Butler County reports first case of bird flu
Butler County reported its first cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza, HPAI, last week as the virus continues to spread and wreak havoc on bird populations across the country.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 610 non-poultry birds were confirmed to carry the bird flu in Butler County on Thursday.
As of Monday afternoon, the exact location of the affected birds remained unreleased. In an email to the Butler Eagle, a spokesperson for the state’s Department of Agriculture said she “can’t confirm any additional info about the infected location.”
The county’s lone case was classified “WOAH Non-Poultry” and marked the first in the area since the USDA began tracking the outbreak in early February 2022.
The World Organization for Animal Health, WOAH, defines “WOAH Non-Poultry” as locations where chickens and other domestic birds, along with their products such as eggs and feathers, are used exclusively on-site and are not sold or transported for processing or future sale.
Specific cases are also marked with a control area, which oftentimes is the 3-kilometer perimeter around an infected farm. Butler County’s situation is labeled “NA,” meaning there is no marked control area.
Farms within a control area face stricter testing requirements and restrictions on transporting poultry products to and from their operations.
“Control areas are released when the conditions have been met to lift initial restrictions, but there is still a waiting period until the farm can restock,” wrote PA Department of Agriculture press secretary Shannon Powers in an email about the Butler County case.
“There is no control area tied to this backyard farm, hence the NA notation.”
The Pennsylvania Animal Diagnostic Laboratory System is responsible for testing birds for avian influenza, according to Powers.
In the last 30 days alone, the state has seen seven affected commercial flocks and eight affected backyard flocks, impacting a total of 2.35 million birds.
While the current outbreak of the avian influenza has affected more than seven million birds in Pennsylvania, there is no health risk to the general public, according to a news release from the state earlier this month.
Anyone who encounters a sick or dead wild bird is asked not to touch it, but immediately report them to the Pennsylvania Game Commission at 1-833-742-9453.
