Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has been confirmed in a U.S. commercial poultry flock for the first time since April 19.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) the presence of the virus was confirmed in a commercial turkey flock in Jerauld County, South Dakota on October 4.
There were 47,300 turkeys in the affected flock.
The latest detection is the 64th case of HPAI to be confirmed in South Dakota during the 2022-23 outbreak. It is the second for Jerauld County, with the other one being confirmed on March 24, 2022. Only Minnesota has had more flocks affected by HPAI during the present outbreak.
While there have been several instances of HPAI in the United States in non-commercial birds in recent months, the last two to be confirmed in commercial operations were reported on April 19. One of those was in Beadle County, South Dakota, while the other was in Dickey County, North Dakota. Those flocks involved 75,800 and 58,500 commercial turkeys, respectively. All HPAI control areas in South Dakota had been released, with the last of those being released on May 13.
While U.S. detections have been absent since April, HPAI has resurfaced in commercial poultry after an absence since May. The presence of HPAI was confirmed in two commercial poultry flocks in Alberta and one in Saskatchewan in September, and another commercial flock in Alberta was confirmed to be infected with HPAI on October 3.
To learn more about HPAI cases in commercial poultry flocks in the United States and Canada, see an interactive map on WATTPoultry.com.
