Maryland’s first case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in a commercial poultry flock was confirmed on November 21.
On that same day, the virus was confirmed in four commercial turkey flocks in South Dakota.
Avian influenza in Maryland
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), a commercial broiler flock in Caroline County, Maryland, was affected by HPAI. There were 198,200 chickens in that flock.
It had been nearly a year since Maryland had had any HPAI infections in commercial or non-commercial poultry. The last case was confirmed on November 29, 2022, when a commercial table egg breeding operation in Washington County was struck. In that instance 24,600 birds were lost.
Maryland has had six commercial poultry flocks affected by HPAI since the virus first appeared in the state in March 2022.
Avian influenza in South Dakota
HPAI continues to spread in South Dakota, with the virus appearing in four more commercial meat turkey flocks.
The latest infections reported by APHIS include two flocks in Clark County, involving 23,600 and 57,400 birds. Also infected were flocks in Kingsbury and Beadle counties, involving 28,800 and 78,200 turkeys, respectively.
South Dakota has had 23 commercial poultry or upland gamebird flocks struck by HPAI in 2023, including 13 in November alone. During the previous year, the state had 61 commercial flocks affected.
The only new case of HPAI to be confirmed on November 21 in Canada was a non-commercial, non-poultry flock in Alberta.
View our continuing coverage of the global avian influenza situation.
To learn more about HPAI cases in commercial poultry flocks in the United States, Mexico and Canada, see an interactive map on WATTPoultry.com.
