Outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) are still cropping up across the nation as the Jan. 13 anniversary of the start of the current wave of U.S. infections approaches.
USDA and local animal health officials this week confirmed new cases in Bledsoe County, Tenn., and New York City, extending this year’s series of detections and implying that a previously anticipated slowdown in the virus’ spread is not on the horizon. Tennessee’s state veterinarian confirmed a third case of HPAI in a commercial chicken facility following a sudden spike in deaths in the flock, the state Department of Agriculture said in a news release.
In New York, a live bird market in Queens reported 170 birds were killed in an outbreak that affected chickens, ducks and guineas, according to the New York Department of Agriculture and Markets and USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).
The record-setting HPAI outbreaks of 2015 killed 50.5 million birds, but had abated as warmer weather and fewer migrations became the norm, USDA reported at the time. The U.S. outbreak confirmed by APHIS in January came months after Europe and other countries first reported HPAI cases in the fall of 2021. So far, the U.S. spread has affected 50.3 million birds in all but four states. APHIS continues to warn poultry owners in affected areas to increase their biosecurity efforts to try to stem the ongoing HPAI wave.
