Avian flu puts Indiana poultry farmers on high alert

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The highly contagious avian flu, a virus that has persisted in the state for the past two years, has Indiana farmers on high alert again.

Indiana is the third largest producer of turkeys in the country. The concentration of those farms affected with the avian flu is currently in the southwest portion of the state.

Denise Derrer Spear Indiana Board of Animal Health told WDRB, “I can tell you the affected farm had little over 13,000 turkeys on it.”

According to the Indiana Board of Animal Health, the highly contagious avian flu, also known as bird flu, can spread through a turkey farm in a matter of days. One positive test can be lights out for an entire flock. As a precaution, the state of Indiana monitors all flocks within several miles of the infected flock, and in this case, close to 50 farms are under surveillance. Which means nothing goes to market unless the farm can prove the flock is free of the virus.

“They have to have a permit first to prove they have tested negative before they can bring anything in or take anything off the farm,” Derrer Spear said.

Two years ago, Indiana reported the first case of avian flu in the country. More than 200,000 birds statewide were killed to control the spread of the virus.

This is a flu that just will not go away as avian flu season is very similar to the human flu and comes to an end by late spring. The mild winters have allowed the virus to linger.

The virus is spread from the droppings of wild migratory birds. The southern migration season passed several weeks ago, and the northern migration is still a few weeks away, giving concerns that this virus may stick around and spread beyond the turkey population.

There are no reports that the avian flu virus has infected any humans.