“Oh give me land, lots of lands, and the starry skies above. Don’t fence me in…”
APHIS reports that in December 2014, highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) was detected in the United States for the first time in 10 years.
From Dec. 11, 2014, to Jan. 16, 2015, USDA received a total of seven reports of HPAI H5N2 or H5N8 in captive wild birds and backyard flocks from the northwestern United States. Additional detections occurred in wild birds. The first infected commercial flock was identified on Jan. 23, 2015, in California.
From January to March, the disease spread slowly to multiple states, including Minnesota, Missouri, Arkansas and Kansas. A significant increase in HPAI H5N2 in turkey flocks occurred through early April in Minnesota, followed by a rapid increase in Iowa in late April and throughout May, where large numbers of chicken layer flocks were affected. The last case of HPAI was confirmed, in a commercial flock, on June 16, 2015.
During the 2014-2015 outbreak, APHIS reported a total of 211 detections on commercial operations and 21 detections on backyard premises, including those premises designated as Dangerous Contact Premises. HPAI was detected in commercial premises, backyard flocks, wild captive birds, and/or wild birds in 21 states: Arkansas, California, Iowa, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
About 7.4 million turkeys and 43 million egg-layers/pullet chickens, as well as a limited number of mixed poultry flocks, were affected by HPAI and died from the disease or were depopulated as part of the response. This outbreak was the largest HPAI outbreak ever recorded in the United States and arguably the most significant animal health event in U.S. history.
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