Bird flu at Indiana turkey farm not same as 2015 strain

The current highly pathogenic strain-H7N8-was detected after testing turkeys from an IN flock that “experienced increased mortality”, the US Department of Agriculture said.

The nine are located near a farm that authorities previously announced had been infected. Not all the 250,000 had yet been killed, said Derrer, though she didn’t have specific figures.

Bird flu has reemerged in IN, though under a different moniker than the subtype that devastated poultry farms and wild birds in 2015. The control area, which is under quarantine, has been expanded to four other IN counties, the board said. One of the nine farms has 12,000 turkeys and another 23,500. The outbreak caused trade partners to stop buying US poultry products and drove up the price of eggs.

Last year’s multiple outbreaks of a strain called H5N2 forced the slaughter of 48 million birds and drove up egg process for months.

McMillian said anyone involved with the poultry industry should review health and safety measures. Dubois farmer Steve Kalb said this afternoon the birds were raised on a farm run by he and his father, Dan. The birds are property of Farbest Foods.

The USDA says last year’s outbreak cost federal taxpayers over $950 million. “There’s no single thing that you can point to that is the one and only factor that explains this”, Myers said. Research has shown that more than likely, the H5N2 virus was introduced through the wild birds’ northern migration, accelerating from farm to farm last spring.

“This finding of highly pathogenic H7N8 is unique to Indiana and the nation”, said Indiana State Veterinarian Dr. Bret D. Marsh in a statement released Friday.

Avian flu, also known as H7N8, was discovered by laboratory testing after several hundred birds died. “Southern Indiana does contain a large commercial turkey population, and we will have to wait to see whether this virus begins spreading rapidly in that area”.

“This particular case is an H7N8 virus”.

“So we are hopeful that as we respond very quickly to this virus, that we can get it contained and hopefully not see an extensive outbreak like we did a year ago”.