(Indianapolis, IN) - Over 900,000 egg laying chickens at an eastern Indiana farm are being destroyed from another case of Avian Influenza.

 

This comes after more than 2.6 million egg laying chickens were ordered euthanized in late January at a farm in the southern part of the state.

 

Denise Derrer Spears, Communications Director for the Indiana State Board of Animal Health, said precautions to limit the spread are strongly recommended as they were after the virus reemerged as a threat in the state about six weeks ago.

 

“We’re still being vigilant in encouraging producers to continue to keep the bio-security levels really high and watch for any signs of illness,” she said.  

 

Spears said the latest case of the H5N1 strain of the virus was confirmed Sunday night in the results of testing from an egg production facility in Jay County between Ft. Wayne and Muncie. Prior to that, nearly three times as many egg layers were ordered depopulated for the same reason at a Rose Acre Farms operation in Jackson County near Seymour.

 

So far this year, three other infected farms impacting over 350,000 egg laying chickens and close to 40,000 turkeys were in Jay County, according to BOAH. Indiana’s two remaining confirmed cases impacting over 26,000 egg layers chickens and more than 18,000 turkeys were in the same region of the state in Adams and Allen counties.

 

Spears said producers statewide, though, should be taking precautions. She pointed to a recent Indiana Department of Natural Resources report confirming deaths in wild birds from the virus as far to the north and west in counties such as LaPorte, Starke, Porter and further south in counties like Vermillion, Pike and Hamilton.

 

“There’s reason for concern statewide,” she said.

 

Spears also cited the continued spread of the virus in nearby western Ohio.

 

“There’s a lot of virus in that general region,” she said.

 

Spears said another reason to be concerned is the upcoming migration season has started for birds such as Sandhill cranes. The virus is spread primarily from contact with droppings from various waterfowl including ducks and geese. Spears said a significant number of Sandhill Cranes migrating north have been confirmed dead from the virus in Tennessee. There have also been recent signs of Sandhill Cranes dying from the virus in the southern part of Indiana.

 

“We could be lying ahead of this as well,” she said.

 

According to BOAH, a 10 kilometer control zone is placed around each infected farm.  Farms within the zone cannot bring in or ship birds or transport eggs without a negative test result and permit from BOAH to guard against a spread and potential human infection from the commercial food supply. As a precaution, Spears said consumers of eggs from unregulated producers with small backyard flocks should exercise proper cooking and handling methods.

 

“We do know heat will kill the virus,” she said.

 

Indiana ranked second in the nation for egg production last year with close to one billion while Ohio placed a close third, according to USDA.