Bird flu has been detected in a commercial poultry flock in Georgia for the first time since the current outbreak began in 2022, state agriculture officials announced late Friday.
The positive case of the H5N1 strain of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza was found in a commercial poultry operation in Elbert County, and confirmed by the Georgia Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
It’s the fifth detection of the virus in a flock in the state, but the first one in a commercial poultry operation. Just last week, GDA officials announced the virus was found in a flock of 13 chickens and ducks in Clayton County.
Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper called the virus’ emergence into a commercial poultry facility a “serious threat to Georgia’s #1 industry and the livelihoods of thousands of Georgians who make their living in our state’s poultry industry.”
Georgia is the country’s top producer of broiler chickens and the state’s industry that is worth an estimated $6.7 billion, according to a University of Georgia analysis based on 2022 data, the most recent year available.
“We are working around the clock to mitigate any further spread of the disease and ensure that normal poultry activities in Georgia can resume as quickly as possible,” Harper added in a statement.
To contain the spread, the GDA announced that all state poultry exhibitions, shows, swaps, meets, and sales are suspended until further notice, effective immediately
The case was discovered after the producer noticed signs of avian influenza in their flock on Wednesday, officials said. Samples were collected the following morning and the case was confirmed after testing at the Georgia Poultry Laboratory Network on Thursday, and by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory on Friday.
The Elbert County site where bird flu was detected had about 45,000 broiler breeders when the case was detected.
The Georgia Department of Agriculture deployed its Emergency Management and State Agricultural Response Teams to the site “premises to conduct depopulation, cleaning and disinfecting, and disposal operations” Friday, with that work continuing into the weekend.
All commercial poultry operations within a 6.2.-mile or 10-kilometer radius were put under quarantine, with surveillance testing for at least two weeks.
The state Department of Agriculture also told poultry producers in a letter Friday to monitor flocks for signs of bird flu, move poultry indoors, use strict biosecurity practices and report unexplained deaths of their birds immediately.
Mike Giles, the president of the Georgia Poultry Federation, said the producers he represents are cooperating with state and federal officials. Giles also stressed that the food supply remains safe.
“Before poultry is processed for human consumption, samples from each flock are collected, and no food products are allowed into the supply chain for human consumption without first receiving test results demonstrating that the flocks are healthy and safe for consumption,” Giles said in a statement.
Even before this detection, robust surveillance and sampling protocols were in place to ensure that no food products from an infected farm enter the food supply chain.
Clinical signs of bird flu include birds that become quiet, do not eat or drink, have discolored combs and feet, or die suddenly without signs of disease.
There have been 136 confirmed cases of the virus in wild birds in Georgia since the current outbreak began in 2022.
Georgia has not had any confirmed cases of H5N1 in cattle or humans, but a stream of concerning news about the virus has been pouring out of other states.
Earlier this month, a patient in Louisiana died from H5N1, becoming the first death in the U.S. from the virus. California also recently declared a state of emergency in response to an explosive outbreak in dairy cattle. Meanwhile, scientists say there are signs the virus may be changing in ways that could allow it to spread more easily to humans.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said the risk to humans from H5N1 is low, but public health officials fear that the virus has the potential to morph into a pandemic.
