Credit Indiana BOAH
#16,558
Given the recent detections of HPAI H5N1 in Canada, and up and down the Atlantic seaboard (see USDA Announces 87 Additional Wild Bird HPAI H5 Detections), it has felt as if it was only a matter of time before the virus would turn up in a U.S. commercial poultry operation.
Today the USDA has announced that a turkey farm in southern Indiana has been hit by HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza), and while they don't identify the subtype, Indiana's BOAH describes it as HPAI H5N1.
Here is the USDA announcement, after which I'll return with a bit more.
USDA Confirms Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in a Commercial Turkey Flock in Dubois County, Indiana
Published: Feb 9, 2022
Contacts:
Mike Stepien, 301-851-4107
Mike.Stepien@usda.gov
Lyndsay Cole, 301-538-9213
Lyndsay.M.Cole@usda.gov
WASHINGTON, February 9, 2022 – The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has confirmed the presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in a commercial turkey flock in Dubois County, Indiana. This is the first confirmed case of HPAI in commercial poultry in the United States since 2020.
Avian influenza does not present an immediate public health concern. No human cases of these avian influenza viruses have been detected in the United States. As a reminder, the proper handling and cooking of poultry and eggs to an internal temperature of 165 ˚F kills bacteria and viruses.
Samples from the affected flock, which experienced increased mortality, were tested at the Indiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at Purdue University, part of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network, and confirmed at the APHIS National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa. Virus isolation is ongoing.
APHIS is working closely with the Indiana Board of Animal Health on a joint incident response. State officials quarantined the affected premises, and birds on the property were depopulated to prevent the spread of the disease. Birds from the flock will not enter the food system.
As part of existing avian influenza response plans, Federal and State partners are working jointly on additional surveillance and testing in the nearby area. The United States has the strongest AI surveillance program in the world, and USDA is working with its partners to actively look for the disease in commercial poultry operations, live bird markets and in migratory wild bird populations.
Anyone involved with poultry production from the small backyard to the large commercial producer should review their biosecurity activities to assure the health of their birds. APHIS has materials about biosecurity, including videos, checklists, and a toolkit available at https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/avian/defend-the-flock-program/dtf-resources/dtf-resources
USDA will report this finding to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) as well as international trading partners. USDA also continues to communicate with trading partners to encourage adherence to OIE standards and minimize trade impacts. OIE trade guidelines call on countries to base trade restrictions on sound science and, whenever possible, limit restrictions to those animals and animal products within a defined region that pose a risk of spreading disease of concern.
In addition to practicing good biosecurity, all bird owners should prevent contact between their birds and wild birds and report sick birds or unusual bird deaths to State/Federal officials, either through their state veterinarian or through USDA’s toll-free number at 1-866-536-7593. Additional information on biosecurity for backyard flocks can be found at http://healthybirds.aphis.usda.gov.
Of interest, Dubois county was heavily affected by different HPAI (and LPAI) virus - H7N8 - back in 2016, when roughly 400,000 birds across 10 poultry operations were culled (see APHIS: Epidemiology Report On Indiana H7N8 Outbreak).
The last time HPAI H5 threatened North America (2015), it affected 15 states and several provinces in Canada, and resulted in the loss of over 50 million commercially raised birds (see map below).
2015 Avian Flu Epizootic
In that epizootic, HPAI H5N8 crossed the Bering Straits, from Asia into Alaska, and then spread south and east over a period of 6 months, infecting hundred of farms along the way.
This time, it appears that the virus has made its way from Europe, via the North Atlantic Flyway (see PLoS One: North Atlantic Flyways Provide Opportunities For Spread Of Avian Influenza Viruses).
The fact that the virus has now been detected in at least 6 states (North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Florida, and Indiana), and has made it as far west as Indiana, suggests that H5N1 is now well entrenched in North American wild and migratory birds.
Today's announcement should serve as a clarion call to all poultry interests to immediately beef up their biosecurity against HPAI. The USDA has some advice on how to Defend The Flock at the website below.
