HPAI returns to Iowa, Alabama

Iowa officials are confirming a positive case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in a commercial turkey flock in Buena Vista County. The outbreak impacting 40,700 birds comes a month after Iowa’s last outbreak involving commercial layer chickens in Wright County. 
Among the hardest hit states, Iowa’s poultry industry has lost more than 15.5 million birds to HPAI this year. There’s also been a spate of HPAI infections among commercial turkey producers in South Dakota.
All told, HPAI has been confirmed in 670 commercial and backyard flocks in 47 states in 2022, affecting 52.87 million birds, according to the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS.) The agency on Tuesday added Alabama to the list of states with HPAI confirmed at a backyard producer. The infection in Lawrence County affected 460 birds. The virus previously was confirmed in wild birds in the state, specifically in black vultures in November and an American wigeon in February. Meanwhile, HPAI is prompting APHIS to restrict the importing of poultry, eggs and other avian products from countries including Ecuador and 11 prefectures in Japan.