USDA continues to confirm HPAI across the U.S.
by Mary Guiden
In recent weeks, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in a backyard non-poultry flock in Alabama and in commercial chickens in Mississippi. This follows news in November confirming avian influenza in two non-commercial backyard flocks in Arizona and South Carolina.
News outlets including CBS News Colorado have called the outbreak in the U.S. “unprecedented,” with deaths in birds recently topping 52 million. Olga Robak, director of communications and public awareness for the Colorado Department of Agriculture, said that as of Dec. 16, the total number of affected commercial chickens in the state is just over six million.
On Dec. 16, Miles Blumhardt reported in the Coloradoan that the avian flu has killed Colorado eagles, hawks and owls in record numbers.
On the Eastern Plains, more than 4,500 snow geese have died in the last month, including at least 2,000 each in Morgan and Logan counties. Those counties are in the migratory waterfowl Central Flyway, where tens of thousands of waterfowl congregate in winter.
The Coloradoan also said that Colorado Parks and Wildlife and wildlife rehabilitation centers are being overwhelmed with cases of dying raptors.
Read more about avian influenza in Colorado: https://ag.colorado.gov/animals/reportable-diseases/avian-influenza
See also a new surveillance dashboard from USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/maps/animal-health/wild-bird-avian-flu-surveillance
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