Georgia and Puerto Rico backyard flocks confirmed with HPAI

ATLANTA — In the past few days, backyard flocks in Georgia and Puerto Rico have been confirmed with highly pathogenic avian influenza.

In Georgia, a HPAI confirmed positive case was found in a small, backyard flock in Clayton County that included 13 chickens and ducks, which is the third backyard flock and fourth overall for the state since the outbreak began in February 2022. In Puerto Rico, HPAI was confirmed in a backyard flock; and this marks the first detection for Puerto Rico since the beginning of this outbreak.

In late December, the Georgia flock owner observed increased mortality, with three dead birds during a brief time. Samples were sent to the Georgia Poultry Laboratory Network for testing, where GPLN confirmed HPAI positive results on Jan. 8. These results were also confirmed by the USDA’s National Veterinary Services Lab on Jan. 10. NVSL is also conducting further genomic sequencing on the samples.

“As the ongoing, nationwide HPAI outbreak continues, implementing and maintaining strict biosecurity measures has never been more important,” Tyler Harper, Georgia’s agriculture commissioner, said. “To date, the ongoing outbreak has impacted more than 133 million birds nationwide and less than 0.25 percent of those birds have been from Georgia, the nation’s top poultry producer — that speaks to the effectiveness of biosecurity and the importance of the work our animal health professionals and poultry producers are doing every single day to ensure the safety of their animals, employees, and operations.”

Georgia Department of Agricultura officials visited the affected location on Jan. 9, and complete depopulation, disposal, cleaning, and disinfection procedures were completed. The premises is within a residential neighborhood that is close to a man-made lake that attracts wild birds and waterfowl. The officials believe that this transmission was likely caused through viral material spread by these wild birds.

The GDA adds that no commercial poultry or dairy operations are within a 6.2-mile radius of the location.

GDA works closely with the Georgia Department of Health. The GDPH is “coordinating with local public health officials to conduct appropriate testing and surveillance with individuals who may have had direct contact with the affected animals,” the department said in a release. “Georgia Department of Agriculture staff who visited the affected premises conducted operations in Level C PPE and followed strict biosecurity protocols. Out of an abundance of caution, department employees that were onsite will participate in a 10-day surveillance period.”

For the Puerto Rico case, flock samples were tested and confirmed at the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service laboratory in Ames, Iowa. The Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture and APHIS are performing additional testing and surveillance in the area around the confirmed flock.

For biosecurity information, visit the “Defend the Flock” section of the APHIS website at www.aphis.usda.gov.

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