Four states reported more H5N1 avian flu outbreaks in poultry, including a second detection in Hawaiian backyard poultry and outbreaks on commercial farms in California, according to the latest confirmations from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).
Hawaii reported its first outbreak on November 17 in a backyard flock of 70 birds in Honolulu County on Oahu island. According to APHIS, the virus also turned up at another backyard facility in the same county, which involves a location that has nine birds.
California, which has been hit hard by outbreaks in dairy cows and poultry, has three more outbreaks from three different counties. They include a commercial broiler farm in Fresno County that has 172,800 birds, a turkey farm in Merced County that has 38,200 birds, and a turkey farm in Stanislaus County that has 22,400 birds.
Two states—Minnesota and Washington—reported outbreaks in backyard poultry. Minnesota reported two events in Martin County, its first since July. Taken together, the sites have 70 birds. Washington’s outbreak occurred at a location in Whatcom County that has 40 birds.
More confirmations in wild birds, dairy farm developments
In other virus developments, APHIS reported more than 100 H5N1 detections in wild birds, most with October and November sample collection dates. Most of the detections were from western states and many were raptors found dead or hunter-harvested waterfowl. Some of the detections were from Midwestern states including Illinois, Kansas, and Minnesota, and the APHIS list also included captive black vultures from Florida’s Brevard County.
The group also included some agency harvested wild birds in California counties experiencing outbreaks in dairy cattle.
Regarding outbreaks in dairy cattle, APHIS confirmed one more detection from a California farm, raising the state’s total to 336 and the national total to 550.
Elsewhere, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture today announced mandatory bulk milk tank testing as an added measure to prevent the spread of avian flu in dairy cattle. So far, Pennsylvania has not reported any outbreaks on dairy farms. The order goes into effect today and will be done at no cost to farmers. Pennsylvania is now one of four states that haven’t been affected by outbreaks to order bulk milk tank testing. The others are Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Massachusetts.
