New cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) have been confirmed in commercial poultry flocks in four states.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), three commercial poultry operations in California have been affected by HPAI, while Ohio, South Dakota and Minnesota have each had one more positive detection.
California
All three cases were confirmed on December 13 and two were in Merced County. One of those was flock of 1,356,600 commercial egg layers, and the other was a flock of 183,100 commercial broilers.
California’s other new case involved a commercial duck breeder operation in San Joaquin County. There, 6,000 ducks were affected.
Merced County has now had four commercial flocks affected by HPAI during the 2022-23 outbreak, involving a diverse range of poultry, including broilers, layers, turkeys and ducks. This is the first commercial flock to be struck by HPAI in San Joaquin County in 2022-23.
Ohio
APHIS confirmed the presence of HPAI in a commercial table egg laying operation in Darke County, Ohio, on December 14. That flock included 560,000 hens.
This is the third commercial poultry operation to be struck by HPAI during the present outbreak, with all three cases being confirmed in December. The other two cases involved commercial meat turkey flocks.
Minnesota
Minnesota’s latest case of HPAI in a commercial operation involved a flock of turkey breeder hens in Olmsted County. The presence of the virus was confirmed on December 11, and 15,100 birds were involved.
While no state has had more flocks struck by HPAI than Minnesota during the past two years, this is the first case to be confirmed in Olmsted County.
South Dakota
The most recently affected flock in South Dakota was a commercial meat turkey flock in Lake County. The presence of HPAI was confirmed on December 12, and 76,000 birds were involved.
This is the third flock in Lake County to be hit by HPAI during the 2022-23 outbreak. The first time a Lake County operation was struck by the virus was in April 2022 and the second infection was in December 2022.
To learn more about HPAI cases in commercial poultry flocks in the United States, Mexico and Canada, see an interactive map on WATTPoultry.com.
View our continuing coverage of the global avian influenza situation.
