Highly pathogenic avian flu now in Delaware, New Hampshire (EE.UU)

Highly pathogenic avian flu now in Delaware, New Hampshire

Additional cases have also been discovered in North Carolina

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has been confirmed in various species of wild ducks in Delaware and New Hampshire, bringing the total number of states with positive HPAI cases in 2022 to eight.

There were 20 cases in New Hampshire and three in Delaware, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced on February 11. That same day, 25 new cases were detected in North Carolina.

These detections follow confirmed HPAI cases in wild birds in North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, Virginia and Florida, as well as a confirmed case in a flock of 29,000 commercial turkeys in Indiana.

All the Delaware cases were found in Kent County and all of the New Hampshire cases were in Rockingham County. However, the cases in North Carolina were more widespread, with 16 in Pamlico County, five in Hyde County and four in Bladen County.

In all cases, the virus found was of the H5 lineage, with APHIS more specifically describing them as H5N1 cases.

With the exception of the HPAI case found at the Indiana turkey farm, all U.S. detections were found through an avian influenza surveillance program initiated by the APHIS Wildlife Services agency.

APHIS recently announced that with all the confirmed HPAI cases, it would expand its surveillance program. Previously, the agency was just monitoring birds in the Atlantic and Pacific flyways, but it has added surveillance of the Mississippi and Central flyways. APHIS anticipates that it will collect 31,000 wild bird samples in 49 states.

In addition to the confirmed cases of HPAI in the United States, there have also been confirmed cases in Canada, including a commercial turkey flock in Nova Scotia. The virus has also been discovered in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Source: wattagnet.com