WASHINGTON — USDA's Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service has confirmed the presence of highly pathogenic H5N2 avian influenza (HPAI) in a commercial layer flock in Jefferson County, Wisconsin. The flock of 200,000 chickens is located within the Mississippi flyway where this strain of avian influenza has previously been identified.
Previous outbreaks of the HPAI virus have been found in commercial turkey flocks and in backyard poultry stretching from the West Coast through Midwest states and along the Mississippi and Central flyways used by migratory birds.
Samples from the chicken flock, which experienced increased mortality, were tested at the. . .