Suspected infections of highly pathogenic avian influenza, also known as bird flu, continue spreading among agricultural producers of ducks and egg-laying chickens in northeast Indiana despite recent frigid temperatures.
Between Dec. 4 and Saturday, the Indiana State Board of Animal Health quarantined a total of 31,291 ducks and 25,152 egg-laying chickens in LaGrange, Elkhart and Noble counties because of bird flu, records show.
An additional 15 chickens from a hobby flock in southeast Indiana's Ohio County, about 225 miles south of the main HPAI outbreak, also tested positive for bird flu, according to BOAH.
Nearly all of the quarantined fowl, as well as the hobby flock chickens, have already been destroyed following confirmation of HPAI infection. The remaining birds are also slated to be depopulated if their bird flu tests come back positive.
Since mid-October, some 300,000 ducks and approximately 700,000 egg-laying chickens have been quarantined or destroyed after bird flu roared back following a six-month lull in new cases at Indiana commercial producers.
A more widespread HPAI outbreak during the first three months of the year required the destruction of more than 8 million Indiana chickens and caused the price of eggs to soar.
Indiana ranks first among the 50 states for duck meat production and third in the nation for eggs.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asserts the public health risk for HPAI is low. It’s possible for humans to contract HPAI, though no cases have been confirmed in Indiana, according to the Department of Health.
Bird flu does not present a food safety risk. BOAH says cooked poultry and eggs and pasteurized dairy products are safe to eat.
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