Three Cases of HPAI Reported in Southwestern Indiana

By: Corbin Lingenfelter, News Director

Local Sources- The Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) is continuing to be found in local counties.

On Monday, a commercial flock of nearly 12,000 turkeys in Daviess County received a presumptive positive test from the Indiana Board of Animal Health (IBOAH). That presumptive positive test has since been confirmed by the USDA testing facility in Iowa. To prevent further spread, all of the turkeys had been put down. A link to this report can be found here.

Tuesday the disease was confirmed in wild waterfowl, mostly snow geese, in Gibson County. Reports say Approximately 700 geese have been found dead, leading to the test. IBOAH’s Denise Spears says the belief is wild waterfowl like ducks and geese are one of the major spreaders of the deadly virus. 

On Wednesday night, a report came out of Martin County, saying another commercial turkey flock is believed to have the virus. Tests were done on the flock, which is associated with the Daviess County flock, and is believed to be positive. More testing is being done and quarantine zones have been set up. 

Meat collected from birds infected with HPAI is edible if cooked to a safe temperature, which is 165°F to 175°F internally. More information can be found on the IBOAH website.