GAINESVILLE, Ga. — As the fall migration season continues and the temperature drops, bird flu is spreading further west. Recently, the Wyoming Livestock Board and USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced the presence of HPAI in a Weston County backyard poultry flock.
Samples from the flock were tested at the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory and confirmed at the APHIS National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa, the WLSB said in a release.
To prevent the spread, the affected premises have been placed under a quarantine. The WLSB is reminding people that the best way to prevent the exposure of bird flu is by improving biosecurity practices.
Domestic poultry should be kept away from wild waterfowl, and poultry located near bodies of water are at an increased risk of exposure. Farmers should clean vehicles and equipment, change clothes upon contact with wild birds, and limit visitors to farms. Migratory waterfowl are deemed to be the primary spreader of the virus.
On the west coast, HPAI has also recently been detected at a commercial duck breeder in Sonoma County, Calif. More than 57,000 birds were affected.
On Oct. 28, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service reported that for the previous 30 days there have been 30 commercial flocks and 35 backyard flocks affected by HPAI. Commercial flocks include 14 in Minnesota and 5 in Indiana. These combined confirmations totaled 3.63 million affected birds.
For more information on bird flu, visit APHIS at https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/avian/avian-influenza.
