Avian flu continues to threaten Indiana flocks. Here’s what we know about the disease
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Hoosier farmers are on edge as the avian flu—officially the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, or HPAI—continues to menace big and small flocks alike.
Last week the avian flu spread to Rose Acre Farms in Seymour, which is the second-largest egg producer in the U.S. But Rose Acre isn’t alone.
As of Monday, the state Board of Animal Health dashboard lists avian flu outbreaks at seven farms in the state—three commercial operations in Jay County, and then one each in Allen, Adams and Jackson counties and one noncommercial flock in Shelby County. The BOAH also posted an advisory on Thursday for a 70-bird hobby flock in Randolph County.
The seven documented cases in January are more than the last two years combined, leading to frustration for experts as they attempt to figure out why.
Darrin Karcher, a poultry extension specialist and associate professor of animal science at Purdue University, said the virus is most likely spread through the droppings of infected water fowl (like geese and ducks), which get into enclosures of commercial flocks.
In addition to the commercial flock cases, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources announced last month that the virus had been confirmed as the cause of death of water fowl in Gibson County and suspected in more cases in 11 other counties.
Why the virus is back in force while not being an issue in 2022 and 2023 is difficult to answer.
“It’s extremely frustrating for the commercial poultry industry because when we had [HPAI] go through the U.S. in 2014 and 2015, it was very clear that we as a poultry industry could have done more to limit the spread,” Karcher said. “We have made vast strides in having better biosecurity, doing more things to stop the spread. However, it’s continuing to get into flocks and we see the outcome.
“It’s just frustrating; no one can say definitively that’s how it’s getting in, because it just seems to be like random chance that you are impacted.”
Once the virus enters a barn, the whole population is very likely to get infected. The disease is so deadly that a whole barn of birds can die within a matter of hours. Humans can technically contract avian flu, but it’s very rarely harmful to us.
Denise Derrer Spears, a spokesperson for the BOAH, said the office is taking the avian flu extremely seriously as it has big ramifications for farms that are affected.
“Indiana is a very large poultry state. We’re No. 1 in ducks. We’re No. 3 in the country in eggs. We’re No. 3 in turkey production. A lot of that gets shipped across the country and internationally,” she said.
Derrer Spears said the state’s case dashboard only lists cases of the avian flu that were found to be positive by both labs at Purdue and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“What frequently can happen is our international trading partners may be looking for reasons to deny foreign products in their country,” Derrer Spears said. “They do that because they may try to find a way to give an advantage to their farmers and that type of thing. We’re very confident we’re not shipping contaminated product overseas. So we don’t post that’s it’s confirmed until we know that it is. Because we don’t want to stop trade for any particular region of our state.”
Derrer Spears said farms with flocks that test positive are immediately quarantined and tested every day until their birds are found to be without the virus. Any commercial flocks within a 10 kilometer radius of the quarantined farm are also put under a surveillance zone and can’t move any poultry products without a clean test and a permit from the BOAH.
In the three Jay County cases reported earlier this month, as well as a case at an Allen County commercial egg laying operation, the affected flocks were all depopulated.
Karcher said Illinois, Ohio and Michigan are also seeing an uptick in HPAI cases. He cautioned that farms of any size can contract the virus, not just large commercial growers.
As to whether farmers can expect the avian flu to subside or not in the coming weeks, Karcher said he just doesn’t know.
“If you go in and look at the data from 2022 to today and look at how the cases ebb and flow across the various states, there does not appear to be a pattern—at least nothing in the various scientific circles that I am part of,” said Karcher.