The typical seasonal slowdown of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) infections is apparent in the United States, as the last cases of HPAI in a commercial poultry flock to be reported by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) were confirmed one month ago.
According to the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the last confirmed cases in commercial operations involved a pair of commercial turkey flocks, one of which was in Dickey County North Dakota, while the other was in Beadle County, South Dakota. Collectively, those two flocks involved 134,300 commercial meat turkeys. Both cases were confirmed on April 19.
Information on the APHIS website reveals that the control area around the South Dakota flock was released on May 13, while the North Dakota control zone is still listed as active.
Backyard flocks and wild birds
While there have been no new HPAI cases in U.S. commercial flocks during the past month, the presence of HPAI was confirmed in a backyard flock in Colorado in late April, and so far in May, the virus was found in backyard flocks in Missouri, North Carolina, Minnesota and Indiana, with one detection in each state. That number of cases is nearly one-sixth of what was reported during the previous month.
APHIS also reported that during the past 30 days, 21 states have had confirmed HPAI cases in wild birds. Those states are: Texas, New York, Wyoming, Colorado, Oregon, California, Wisconsin, Florida, Maryland, Arizona, Alabama, Maine, Montana, Idaho, Kansas, North Carolina, South Dakota, Arkansas, Virginia, Louisiana and Nevada.
Cases of HPAI in backyard poultry flocks and wild birds should not impact international poultry trade, according to rules set forth by the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH).
Avian influenza in Canada
While there have still been cases of HPAI in commercial poultry flocks in Canada, the frequency of those infections has become less, according to information from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).
Quebec has had the most recent cases, with six cases in commercial flocks. Those confirmation dates range from April 21 to May 6, Canada’s last confirmed case.
The only other province to have HPAI cases in commercial poultry during the past month is British Columbia. That province’s single case during that time span was confirmed on April 29.
Ontario’s last case was confirmed on April 19, the same day the two most recent U.S. HPAI cases were confirmed.
The only other confirmed case in Canada during the past month involved a backyard flock in Alberta.
To learn more about HPAI cases in commercial poultry flocks in the United States and Canada, see an interactive map on WATTPoultry.com.
Read our ongoing coverage of the global avian influenza outbreak.
