The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) have detected a case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in O’Brien County, Iowa.
The affected farm is a dairy herd, and this is Iowa’s first reported case of HPAI within a dairy. To date, there have been over 80 cases of bird flu in dairy herds in other states, including South Dakota.
The Iowa Department of Ag says genomic sequencing of the virus that was detected at the Sioux County farm reported May 28 was determined by the NVSL in Ames to be consistent with the variant identified in affected dairies in other states. Sequencing is not yet completed on the virus detected at a turkey flock in Cherokee County or the dairy in O’Brien County. Epidemiological investigations are ongoing to try to determine how the virus was introduced into the flocks and herd.
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig says. “Poultry producers and dairy farmers should immediately take steps to harden their biosecurity defenses, limit unnecessary visitors, and report symptomatic birds or cattle to the Department.”
