Another farm in Weld County, Colorado, has been affected by H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) reported that the presence of HPAI was confirmed on July 24 in a flock of 300,800 commercial table egg pullets in the area.
This is the third table egg farm in Weld County to test positive for HPAI in July 2024.
On July 8th, HPAI was confirmed in a flock of 1,790,000 commercial table egg layers. On July 16, HPAI was confirmed in a flock of 1,313,800 commercial table egg layers. This brings the total number of bird losses in the county to more than 3.4 million in the last 30 days.
Weld County has had six commercial poultry flocks struck by HPAI in 2024, but the county’s only cases in 2023 involved backyard poultry.
Before July, Colorado had not seen a commercial case of HPAI in 2024 since February, which involved a flock of 66,500 broiler breeders in Delta County.
Weld County has had human cases of H5N1 as well
On July 20, 2024, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) reported that six poultry workers involved with the layer flocks affected by HPAI tested positive for the H5N1 virus.
Previously, the CDPHE and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had reported four confirmed human cases of H5N1 and one presumed-positive case. CDPHE stated that the employees had mild symptoms, including conjunctivitis of the eye and common respiratory infection symptoms. None of the workers were hospitalized.
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.
