Fox/Detroit Michigan is managing eight different outbreaks of bird flu among its commercial poultry farms and several others among backyard flocks as transmission rates pick up.
According to the state’s agriculture director, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza is trending at a similar pace as they’ve seen in previous years. That’s good news after last year’s outbreak devastated farms. However, questions are now forming about the mutated strain that in 2024 made the jump from poultry to dairy herds, infecting cows and even killing a worker.
Big picture view:
Of the 12 active outbreaks in Michigan, a majority are in commercial flocks on the west side of the state. The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is also monitoring four backyard flock outbreaks, two of which are in Southeast Michigan.
“This tracks generally with what we see in the late fall and early winter,” said director Tim Boring. “Eight is a little more than what we see — but in these cases we see are spread by wild migratory birds.”