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ELKHART COUNTY, Ind. — Avian influenza has been confirmed at a third duck farm in northern Indiana.
The Indiana State Board of Animal Health said initial tests at the Elkhart County duck farm came back positive. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory verified the results.
The duck farm has an estimated population of about 6,600, state officials said.
This marks the third Elkhart County farm to report positive tests, bringing the number of Indiana sites with positive tests to nine.
The issue first arose in February, when the state confirmed a case of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza at a commercial turkey farm in Dubois County. It represented the first report of the virus in commercial poultry in the U.S. since 2020 and the first in Indiana since 2016, the state said.
Later laboratory tests in February and March showed positive results for five more sites in Dubois and Greene counties. The birds in those locations were “depopulated,” meaning the state had them killed. The turkey farms accounted for more than 171,000 birds.
More than 17,000 birds at the three duck farms in Elkhart County have also been depopulated, according to state records.
This year, 29 states have reported avian influenza, with the virus affecting more than 28 million birds, according to the USDA.
No human cases of bird flu have been detected in the U.S., and the CDC said the virus doesn’t present an immediate threat to public health. The state said egg and poultry supplies are safe.
Avian flu has been confirmed in the following states, according to the USDA:
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- South Dakota
- Texas
- Utah
- Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
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