The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Veterinary Services division has published a comprehensive report on the 2017 combined highly-pathogenic and low-pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI and LPAI respectively) outbreaks in domestic poultry.
The 2017 outbreaks started in March with a commercial broiler breeder farm in Tennessee and progressed to include an outbreak area of south central Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, and Georgia. In total, two commercial broiler breeder farms were affected by HPAI, six commercial broiler breeder farms were affected by LPAI, and five backyard poultry operations were affected by LPAI.
The report states that all of the viruses found in the infected flocks were of North American wild bird lineage, with the HPAI and LPAI viruses being highly similar in composition. Although it is not known exactly how the virus contacted the affected flocks, the report states that there was a possibility of more than one introduction of the avian influenza virus. The report discusses that multiple risk factors could be identified, and that it could be theorized that the outbreaks were initiated by exposure to environmental sources of the virus.
According to the report, the avian influenza virus strain that caused the outbreaks has been detected during the summer, fall, and winter in the Mississippi and Atlantic flyways. The United States continues to have a robust surveillance plan for wild waterfowl, with over 80,000 sampled and tested for the influenza virus since July 1, 2015. At this time, there are no reports of avian influenza transmission from poultry to humans from this virus, and the health of farm personnel and those working around the affected flocks continues to be monitored.
For more information from USDA on avian influenza, including tips on how to protect commercial and backyard flocks, please click here. Further information on avian influenza and the safety of the chicken you buy and eat can be found on the Chicken Check In.
