Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) made its first appearances in U.S. commercial poultry flocks this season, affecting one turkey farm in South Dakota and one in Utah earlier this month.
USDA reported HPAI was confirmed in a flock of 47,300 turkeys in Jerauld County, South Dakota, on Oct. 4 and at a farm with 141,800 birds in Utah’s Sanpete County on Oct. 6. Before these, the only reports of HPAI in the U.S. in recent months were sporadic appearances in backyard flocks or among wild birds.
In addition, Poland, the European Union’s largest poultry producer, has reported an outbreak of the virus among poultry in the northern part of the country, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said on Tuesday. The outbreak was found in a backyard with 80 domestic birds, WOAH said, citing information from Poland’s health authorities.
