Watt Poultry Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) was confirmed in a flock of commercial upland gamebirds in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
According to information from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the presence of HPAI was confirmed on July 2. The gamebirds were being raised for release, and the flock included 29,300 birds. The United States had gone nearly one month without any new cases of HPAI in commercial operations, as the last flock infection was confirmed on June 5. In that situation, a flock of 342,100 commercial egg layer pullets in Maricopa County, Arizona, was affected.
This marks the first commercial flock in Pennsylvania to be struck by HPAI since a commercial turkey flock in Franklin County was affected on March 21. The last time HPAI was found in a commercial operation in Lancaster County was February 11, and that flock included 80,000 broilers.