The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has confirmed multiple H5N1 avian flu outbreaks in eight states, including a commercial farm in Georgia that is the first to report an outbreak at a commercial poultry facility. The latest outbreaks include detections in turkey and egg-laying farms in Indiana, a duck meat farm in New York, layer poultry flocks in Ohio, and a broiler farm in Maryland.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also stepped up efforts to improve the safety of raw pet food, following recent reports of H5N1 infections in household cats. The FDA is tracking cases linked to contaminated products from infected poultry or cattle and is requiring pet food manufacturers to reanalyze their food safety plans to include H5N1 as a known hazard.
Georgia officials have announced a ban on poultry exhibits to mitigate the spread of the disease, while APHIS is updating its policy for preslaughter surveillance in turkeys to enhance testing in affected states. The agency has identified a genetic link between infected turkeys and an infected house cat, which will be used to inform enhanced surveillance measures.
Since the first detection in US poultry in 2022, H5N1 outbreaks have led to the loss of over 138 million birds across 50 states and Puerto Rico. The national total for H5N1 cases has risen to 929, with California’s total at 712.
Source: https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/avian-influenza-bird-flu/avian-flu-surge-continues-us-poultry-farms-feds-address-contamination-raw