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The Georgia Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA - APHIS) have confirmed a case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in a commercial poultry flock in Gordon County, marking the fifth detection in the state this year. The bird flu outbreak, which began in 2022, has now affected over 182 million birds nationwide, with Georgia reporting 340,000 cases. "This poses a serious threat to Georgia's #1 industry and to the thousands of Georgians whose livelihoods depend on poultry production," said Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler J Harper, as reported by the Georgia Department of Agriculture. Symptoms were first noticed by the producer on Wednesday, October 22, and the Georgia Poultry Laboratory Network (GPLN) was immediately contacted the following day. Samples were quickly taken and a positive result for HPAI came out on Thursday evening. This was further confirmed by the USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratory yesterday, October 24. In response, the Georgia Department of Agriculture's Emergency Management and State Agricultural Response Teams (SART) quickly began depopulation and sanitation efforts. An affected premises, which housed around 140,000 broilers, has already begun the containment process as of yesterday, October 24. Consequently, all nearby commercial poultry operations within a 10 Kilometer (6.2 mile) radius are now under quarantine. These farms will be subjected to surveillance testing for at least two weeks to ensure the containment of the disease. According to the initial reports, efforts to manage the situation are expected to extend into the weekend, as state officials and animal health experts work to curb the spread of the virus.
