A flock on a commercial turkey farm in Daviess County has tested presumptive-positive for H5 avian influenza virus on Sunday. Although the Indiana State Board of Animal Health did not identify the specific farm, they have announced the flock size is 11,394 birds.
This is the first time in 2022 that avian influenza has been identified in Daviess County.
A 10km control area and 10km surveillance zone have been established around the site of the farm and samples will be tested at the national USDA laboratory in Iowa for confirmation.
Since Feb. 2022, there have now been a total of ten commercial farms impacted by Avian influenza. The virus had previously been found on six other commercial turkey farms in Dubois and Greene counties in southern Indiana and three commercial duck farms in Elkhart County in northern Indiana. That led to the depopulation of more than 183,000 turkeys and 17,700 ducks.
The last confirmed-positive highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) case in Indiana was Sept 1, 2022 on a small, non-commercial flock in Elkhart County.
The Indiana State Board of Animal Health says that avian influenza does not present a food safety risk and that poultry and eggs remain safe to eat. Officials are not aware of any public health significance with this virus and no cases of human infection have been reported.
If you see any signs of illness in your flock, to call the USDA Healthy Birds Hotline at 866‐536‐7593. You will be routed to a federal or state veterinarian in Indiana for case assessment. Dead birds should be double‐bagged and refrigerated for possible testing.
