Bird Flu Hits Major US Turkey Producer in Indiana

Not all the 250,000 had yet been killed, said Derrer, though she didn’t have specific figures. The planned killing of the 156,000 chickens means the outbreak has now affected more than 401,000 birds. “This is a very poultry-intense area of the state, and our poultry industry is pretty significant here in IN, so we don’t want to minimize the importance of this at all”. She says the impact of similar outbreaks in states including Iowa and Minnesota has motivated in producers to take a proactive approach to stamping out the disease.

The Maryland Department of Agriculture is alerting all poultry owners and growers to double down on all biosecurity practices now that a highly pathogenic H7N8 avian influenza virus, or HPAI, has been confirmed in a commercial turkey flock in Indiana. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the rapid response developed after last year’s outbreaks seems to have worked, but noted a team is in place to rapidly euthanize flocks and contain any spread. “Sampling of wild birds in the affected areas in IN will most likely help in determining the source of the infection”.

Earlier, France reported some cases of the flu. APHIS noted that low-pathogenic H7 viruses, though, have been known to mutate into highly pathogenic strains, which have the potential to spread quickly and cause many deaths in domestic poultry. As of Monday, almost 120,000 turkeys had been killed on four of the farms; efforts to euthanize 121,000 others continued.

Indiana’s poultry industry brings in $2.5 billion a year, Derrer said, adding that the state leads the country in duck production, is No. 3 in egg production and fourth in turkeys.

As with other avian flu viruses, the CDC recommends antiviral medication for symptomatic people.

Still, the new strain found in the United States is considered highly pathogenic, meaning it is especially deadly to poultry.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the detection of a new strain of avian influenza H7N8 at the farm on Friday, and South Korea has halted imports of US poultry and poultry meat just two months after shipments were resumed.

Meanwhile, the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council (USAPEEC) said there were key differences to this outbreak when compared to last year’s.