“High path” avian influenza was confirmed in a backyard flock in Nebraska, the 16th state with the viral disease in a domestic flock this year, said the Agriculture Department on Wednesday. Meanwhile, officials in Indiana and Kentucky rolled back quarantine areas in their states after a string of disease-free days.
Some 7.4 million birds, almost all of them chickens or turkeys, have died in outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) or in culling meant to prevent spread of the virus, according to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The first case of HPAI in a domestic flock in two years was reported on Feb. 8 on a turkey farm in southern Indiana.
The USDA said the Nebraska outbreak was in a mixed species backyard flock in Merrick County, about 100 miles west of Omaha. As with other incidents, the site was quarantined, with the birds killed and neighboring flocks put under surveillance. Agricultural officials act quickly and ruthlessly because contagious HPAI can wipe out a flock quickly.
In Kentucky and Indiana, animal health officials said no new cases of HPAI had been found in at least 14 days. The Indiana Board of Animal Health said that two turkey farms in Greene County remained under quarantine during the final stages of cleanup and a fallow period. Epidemiological testing and genome sequencing “supports independent wild bird introductions for the initial detection in Dubois County and both detections in Greene County,” said the state board. Indiana has had six outbreaks, four in Dubois County and two in Greene County.
The Kentucky state veterinarian’s office said that two farms, in Fulton and Webster counties, remain under quarantine as composting of nearly 285,000 turkeys continues. No cases of HPAI were found during tests of nearby farms, and controls have been removed on the neighborhoods.