Highly pathogenic avian influenza, also known as bird flu, once again is affecting poultry in Northwest Indiana after killing off thousands of wild birds in the Northwest Indiana Region.
The Indiana State Board of Animal Health announced Wednesday it has quarantined a Porter County backyard/hobby flock of 360 chickens due to suspected HPAI — the first new Indiana bird flu quarantine in more than a month, records show.
It's also the first bird flu poultry quarantine in Northwest Indiana since February when a Jasper County hobby flock of 90 birds had to be depopulated following a confirmed case of HPAI.
Statewide, more than 8 million egg-laying chickens, turkeys and ducks have been destroyed so far this year due to HPAI, endangering Indiana's poultry industry and causing the price of eggs to soar.
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 so far have been confirmed in the Hoosier State, according to the Indiana Department of Health.
Bird flu does not present a food safety risk. The Board of Animal Health says cooked poultry and eggs and pasteurized dairy products are safe to eat.
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources believes HPAI is the cause of wild waterfowl deaths this year in Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Newton, Starke and Benton counties, among others.
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