Indiana’s 14th flock with bird flu found in Marion County
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A goose and a chicken in a Marion County hobby flock were found to have avian influenza Thursday after two wild birds on the property earlier were found to have the disease, the Indiana State Board of Animal Health says.
The flock is the first in Marion County and the 14th in Indiana to record positive tests for bird flu this year. The 2022 bird flu outbreak is Indiana’s largest in years, part of the worst outbreak in the United States since 2015.
The State Board of Animal Health says its staff will reach out to poultry owners nearby to test for bird flu.
Rising prices for eggs has been one effect of the outbreak, although avian influenza does not pose a food safety risk.
Here’s data on bird flu outbreaks so far this year in Indiana:
- DuBois and Greene counties in southern Indiana: six commercial turkey flocks. A total of 171,224 birds in the flocks were euthanized.
- Elkhart County in northern Indiana: three commercial duck flocks. A total of 17,179 birds in the flocks were euthanized.
- Johnson County: a hobby flock of chickens, ducks and peafowl. Remaining birds in the flock were euthanized.
- Allen County: three hobby flocks of an undisclosed type of bird. Remaining birds in the flocks were euthanized.
The State Board of Animal Health said the nine commercial farms have eliminated the avian influenza virus and can restock with poultry.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources had tested nearly 300 wild birds prior to Thursday’s announcement, and positive results were found in two bald eagles, two red-tailed hawks, a redhead duck, two great-horned owls, and a double-crested cormorant. It was unclear who had tested the wild birds at the Marion County site confirmed Thursday.
On April 28, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the first case of a person with avian influenza.
The USDA’s Healthy Birds Hotline is 866-536-7593.