Bird flu found at Daviess County turkey farm; state’s 15th infected flock of 2022
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A commercial flock of 11,394 turkeys at a farm in Daviess County is the 15th flock in Indiana found to have bird flu, state officials said.
The birds tested presumptive positive for avian influenza on Sunday and have been quarantined, the Indiana State Board of Animal Health said in a statement. Samples will be tested at Iowa’s national U.S. Department of Agriculture laboratory for confirmation.
The flock is the first in Daviess County to test positive for bird flu so far this year.
With Sunday’s discovery, the state board will test birds in nearby flocks for the virus.
The bird flu confirmation is the first in Indiana since the start of September, the state said in a news release. On Sept. 1, more than 260 birds in a hobby flock in Elkhart County tested positive for the virus.
The 2022 bird flu outbreak is Indiana’s largest in years and is part of the country’s worst outbreak since 2015. In the past year, Indiana farmers have lost more than 400,000 birds to the flu, I-Team 8’s Richard Essex reported in October.
Avian flu is spread by the droppings of migrating waterfowl, which makes it hard for farms and state officials to control the spread.
Here’s data on bird flu outbreaks so far this year in Indiana:
- Elkhart County in northern Indiana: A small flock of chickens, ducks, and geese tests positive. The birds were euthanized.
- DuBois and Greene counties in southern Indiana: Six commercial turkey flocks. A total of 171,224 birds in the flocks were euthanized.
- Elkhart County in northern Indiana: Three commercial duck flocks. A total of 17,179 birds in the flocks were euthanized.
- Johnson County: Hobby flock of chickens, ducks and peafowl. Remaining birds in the flock were euthanized.
- Allen County: Two small flocks of an undisclosed type of bird. Remaining birds in the flock were euthanized.
- Allen County: About 50 chickens and ducks in a small, hobby operation in the Fort Wayne area. The birds were euthanized.
Updated numbers from the state show 171,733 commercial turkeys and 17,703 commercial ducks have been euthanized due to bird flu in 2022.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the risk to humans is low and that the strains of bird flu that are currently circulating in North America have no history of causing human illness.
The USDA’s Health Birds Hotline is 1-866-536-7593.