The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today confirmed more H5N1 avian flu detections in poultry from four states, all involving commercial poultry.

Two of the events involved broiler farms, one a facility in Arkansas’ Cleveland County that has nearly 107,000 birds and another in Maryland’s Dorchester County that has 152,000 chickens.
In Missouri, the virus struck four turkey producers in three different counties—Jasper, Lawrence, and Newton. Taken together, the farms have about 145,000 birds.
APHIS also confirmed the virus at a farm in Illinois’ Cook County, part of the Chicago metro area, that has 500 birds.
In dairy cow H5N1 developments, APHIS confirmed 7 more detections, all involving herds from California, which push the national total to 937 and California’s total to 720.
Snow geese deaths prompt clean-up in Delaware
The Delmarva Avian Flu Joint Information Center yesterday announced that the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) and the USDA’s APHIS are collaborating on an effort to collect sick and dead snow geese and other wild birds in Delaware to help curb the spread of the virus.
Outbreaks in commercial poultry have recently been reported in Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia in an area that makes up the Delmarva Peninsula. Officials in the region are collaborating on a unified response. The group said snow geese migrate from the Arctic and form large flocks in Delaware each winter. “It is unknown when or where the snow geese may have acquired the virus given their highly migratory nature and association with other waterfowl and waterbirds throughout the Atlantic Flyway through which they travel into Delaware and more southern states,” officials said.
Officials urged anyone with sick or dead birds on public or private property to immediately report their findings to state authorities.