Highly pathogenic avian influenza has now spread to 14 states and more than 7.6 million birds, with the Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s announcement this week that a flock of 3 million laying hens in Jefferson County, Wis., had been infected.
“State officials quarantined the affected premises, and birds on the property will be depopulated to prevent the spread of the disease,” APHIS said. “Birds from the flock will not enter the food system.”
As it has throughout the series of detections, which began Feb. 8 with about 29,000 turkeys in Indiana, APHIS cited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in saying that “the recent HPAI detections do not present an immediate public health concern.”
APHIS said it will continue to announce the first case of HPAI in commercial and backyard flocks detected in a state but will not announce subsequent detections. All cases in commercial and backyard flocks are listed on the APHIS website.
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