The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) reported that highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) claimed more than a million commercial laying hens in California.
The agency also gave an update on a previously reported case of HPAI in Arizona – the first involving commercial poultry in the state during the 2022-24 outbreak.
According to APHIS, the presence of HPAI was confirmed in a flock of 1,812,100 commercial laying hens in Kern County on November 20.
The Arizona flock, where the presence of HPAI was confirmed on November 13, involved 790,700 hens. That detection was made in Pinal County.
APHIS also reported that HPAI was found in a commercial meat duck flock in Marin County, California, on November 30. However, APHIS has not yet released information concerning the size of that duck flock.
With these new flock infections, California is the state hardest hit by HPAI in 2024, both in terms of flocks affected (28) and birds lost (7.7 million).
HPAI hits three more Canadian flocks
In Canada, HPAI was confirmed in three commercial poultry flocks, reported the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). One of those was in Abbotsford, British Columbia, one was in Chilliwack, British Columbia, and the other was confirmed in Lotbinière, Quebec. All three instances were confirmed on November 20.
The type of birds involved was not disclosed, nor was the number of birds in either flock.
In November alone, British Columbia has had 34 commercial poultry flocks affected by HPAI, while Quebec has had three.
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.
