Bird flu spreads in Delaware with confirmed Kent County case


A Kent County commercial broiler farm in Delaware was the latest location to have a positive case of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza.

An investigation by the Delaware Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory confirmed the case through federal laboratory testing on Thursday.

“State officials have quarantined all affected premises, and the birds have been depopulated to prevent the spread of the disease. Birds from affected flocks will not enter the food system,” said the Delaware Department of Agriculture in a statement.

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This joins cases in recent weeks on farms in New Castle County, Delaware, and Cecil and Queen Anne’s Counties, Maryland.

Kathy Phillips, a lab tech at the University of Delaware's Lasher Laboratory in Georgetown, where she is testing for avian flu.

As a result, federal and state partners have expanded their surveillance sampling and testing regimen to better protect the poultry industry on the Delmarva Peninsula.

“Avian influenza is a highly contagious airborne respiratory virus that spreads quickly among birds through nasal and eye secretions and manure,” the department said. “The virus can be spread in various ways from flock to flock, including by wild birds, through contact with infected poultry, by equipment, and on the clothing and shoes.”



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