January 28, 2025

More bird flu cases confirmed in poultry flocks from four US states

The US Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS) on January 24 confirmed more H5N1 avian flu detections in poultry from four US states, all involving commercial poultry.

Two of the developments involved broiler farms, one a facility in Arkansas' Cleveland County that has nearly 107,000 birds and another in Maryland's Dorchester County that has 152,000 chickens.

In Missouri, the virus struck four turkey producers in three different counties—Jasper, Lawrence, and Newton. Taken together, the farms have about 145,000 birds.

APHIS also confirmed the virus at a farm in Illinois' Cook County, part of the Chicago metro area, that has 500 birds.

In dairy cow H5N1 developments, APHIS confirmed seven more detections, all involving herds from California, which push the national total to 937 and California's total to 720.

Outbreaks in commercial poultry have recently been reported in Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia in an area that makes up the Delmarva Peninsula.

- CIDRAP