Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig has confirmed two new outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in the state.
During a virtual press conference Tuesday afternoon, Naig announced that HPAI was detected in a commercial egg-laying chicken flock of 1.5 million birds in Guthrie County and a commercial turkey flock of 28,000 in Hamilton County. This now marks nine confirmed outbreaks of the virus that primarily affects birds.
?We ordered in ? and they have arrived ? an incident management team from the USDA now working in partnership with us here in the state of Iowa to help us support the Iowa response,? said Sec. Naig.
All birds within the detected flocks in Hamilton and Guthrie counties were depopulated. Naig says producers are eligible for indemnification payments from USDA for the destroyed birds, as well as disposal costs, but that amount does not cover the value of the bird.
“These payments do not make a producer whole,” said Naig. “This is a devastating event for a livestock producer. Financially, it’s difficult. And of course, the stress of managing through this situation. We’re appreciative of the support and the dollars help with the response, but it’s far from making a producer whole.”
Naig says all of the current confirmed HPAI outbreaks came from contact between a wild bird with a domestic bird. State Veterinarian Dr. Jeff Kaisand says the department continues to monitor wild bird migration, which has an impact on spread.
?A lot of times when avian influenza is introduced from wild birds into commercial poultry, it takes a little bit to adapt,? said Kaisand. ?But this virus is coming in and is causing mortality clinical signs immediately when it?s introduced from wild birds into domestic poultry. It?s a little bit more concerning in that aspect this year.?
USDA has confirmed outbreaks in nearly 15.5 million commercial domestic birds during the current outbreak of HPAI.
