PIERRE, S.D. – The first case of high pathogenic avian influenza in South Dakota has been reported in a 53,000-head turkey flock in west-central Beadle County.
South Dakota State Veterinarian Dr. Dustin Oedekoven says the virus is carried by migratory birds and spread through feces, but adds that South Dakota’s Department of Agriculture is still trying to determine how the particular operation in question came to be infected.
?We?re looking at things like the construction of the roof vents,? he explained. ?Is there access to smaller birds who may have access to the barns which the larger migratory waterfowl don?t? And then there?s always the possibility of people actually bringing it in there, despite increased biosecurity.?
Odekoven says one bit of good news is that only one other commercial poultry flock has yet to be tested as a result of the outbreak. It’s in the “surveillance zone,” but Odekoven notes “it?s outside of what we call our control zone, and so unfortunately it is nearby, and they have been alerted, and are responding appropriately.?
The infected flock has been quarantined and will be depopulated. Odekoven says the producer will receive an indemnity for the loss of those birds; the indemnity request has already been approved by USDA.
“What that covers,” says Odekoven, “is the live birds at the time that the diagnosis of H5 influenza has been made, and the owner agrees to a value that USDA [offers] to pay for those birds.?
Thus far in both Minnesota and South Dakota, poultry export bans to large customers such as Mexico have been confined to the affected county, not to the poultry industry of the entire state.
To hear more about South Dakota’s recent bird flu outbreak, click the audio player above this story.
