Oklahoma bans poultry exhibition, activities in light of HPAI
Oklahoma State Veterinarian Rod Hall has banned all poultry exhibition, public sales and swap meets in his state in an announcement made May 1.
The ban is to allow Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry time to assess the scope and range of Highly Pathogenic Aviation Influenza in the region surrounding Oklahoma as well as halt any potential spread of virus within the state, Hall said.
“It is essential to stop commingling of poultry specie while HPAI is circulating in both wild birds and domestic poultry species,” Hall said.
The ban will end July 30, unless evidence shows it should be extended.
Nebraska has also extended its ban as a result of new cases.
Recently, an eighth farm, a small backyard mixed flock, in Washington County, experienced the latest case.
According to Nebraska Department of Agriculture State Veterinarian Dr. Roger Dudley, the farm has been quarantined and the birds will be humanely depopulated and disposed of in an approved manner. Additionally, NDA will be establishing a 6.2-mile surveillance zone, as is the U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, around the affected premises. Poultry producers in that surveillance zone should know the signs and symptoms of HPAI and notify NDA immediately of sick or dying birds.
Additionally, NDA has been notified of a confirmed case of HPAI in a backyard flock in Republic County in Kansas. The surveillance zone for this flock does extend into Nuckolls County in Nebraska. Poultry producers in that area should know the signs and symptoms of HPAI and notify NDA immediately of sick or dying birds. The seventh farm, a flock of over 2.1 million laying hens, is in Knox County.
According to Dudley, the farm has been quarantined and the birds will be humanely depopulated and disposed of in an approved manner. Additionally, NDA will be establishing a 6.2-mile control zone, as is USDA policy, around the affected premises.
The controlled movement order that prohibits birds of any type at events including but not limited to fairs, expositions, swap meets, exotic sales and live bird auctions that NDA issued on March 26 that expired April 30 was extended through 11:59 p.m. on May 15. The order will be re-evaluated again at that time.
The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service have confirmed a recent positive case of HPAI in Bremer County, Iowa. The virus was found in a non-commercial backyard flock. This is the second confirmed case of HPAI in Bremer County, Iowa. The first case was in a commercial turkey flock on April 20.
For more information and latest detections of avian flu, visit https://bit.ly/2022HPAI.
