GAINESVILLE, Ga. — Fall is a time for cooling temperatures, shorter days, and football season. However, for the poultry industry, it means something else entirely: bird migration. The fall migration is a time when millions of birds are flying South for the winter.
During this time, avian diseases, such as highly pathogenic avian influenza, can be easily transmitted to backyard and commercial poultry flocks. After a somewhat quiet summer for HPAI, detections are back on the rise.
On Sept. 15, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection confirmed a case of HPAI in a commercial poultry flock in Barron County.
The Wisconsin DATCP and USDA animal health officials are working together in a joint incident response and have quarantined the affected premises to restrict movement of poultry and poultry products, Wisconsin DATCP said in a statement.
All birds on the affected property were depopulated to prevent the spread of disease, and none of the birds from this flock will enter the food system.
This is the first case of HPAI in Wisconsin since March 10, where more than 1 million birds were affected at a commercial table egg pullet facility.
On Sept. 10, USDA confirmed two detections of HPAI in Minnesota, one in Becker County and the other in Otter Tail County. According to USDA data, the detection in Becker County affected more than 44,000 birds at a commercial turkey meat facility, and the detection in Otter Tail County affected 18,000 birds at a commercial breeder operation.
These are the second and third detections in Minnesota this month. The first was on Sept. 1 at a commercial turkey meat facility in Wright County. More than 29,000 birds were affected, according to USDA data.
Also on Sept. 1, the North Dakota Department of Agriculture confirmed a detection of HPAI at a commercial turkey meat facility in LaMoure County where more than 41,000 birds were affected.
This is only the second commercial detection of the virus in North Dakota this year. The first detection was also at a commercial turkey meat facility in LaMoure County, according to NDDA data.
Although four different states have had HPAI detections since mid-August, only one has had more detections than all of the other states: South Dakota.
Since Aug. 21, South Dakota has had five cases of bird flu in four different counties. The most recent cases were on Sept. 9, one in Mcpherson County and the other in Turner County. Both cases occurred at commercial turkey meat facilities, and a combined total of 105,100 birds were affected, according to USDA data.
Two of these five detections were both in Edmunds County at commercial breeder operations with a combined total of more than 70,000 birds affected, USDA data states.
The fifth detection was in Hamlin County at a commercial turkey meat facility where more than 44,000 birds were affected. The control area for this detection has already been released, according to USDA data.
As we move into the colder months, poultry producers should remain vigilant in their biosecurity practices. It’s evident that, now in year 4 of this HPAI outbreak, the virus isn’t going anywhere soon.
On Sept. 16, APHIS reported that for the previous 30 days there have been 9 commercial flocks and 6 backyard flocks affected by HPAI. Commercial flocks include 5 in South Dakota. These combined national confirmations totaled 35,000 affected birds.
For more information on bird flu, visit APHIS at https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/avian/avian-influenza.
