CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A case of avian influenza has been confirmed in a small backyard flock of birds in Georgia.
The Georgia Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service confirmed a positive case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in Clayton County.
The flock was made up of 13 chickens and ducks.
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This is the third detection of HPAI in a backyard flock and the fourth overall detection in Georgia since the nationwide outbreak began in February 2022.
HPAI is a highly contagious and often deadly respiratory disease that affects poultry, wildlife, and sometimes humans.
In December, the owners of the birds noticed an increase in deaths, with three birds dying in a short period of time.
The carcasses were refrigerated and sent to the Georgia Poultry Lab Network on Jan. 6 for testing.
The results were confirmed positive two days later.
On Thursday, Jan. 9, officials from the Georgia Department of Agriculture visited the home and killed the remaining birds in the flock, then cleaned, and disinfected the site to reduce further spread of the disease.
The home is located in a residential neighborhood and close to a manmade lake that is frequented by wild birds, particularly waterfowl, which are known carriers of the disease.
There are no commercial poultry or dairy cattle operations within a 6.2-mile radius around the home.
Owners of poultry flocks are strongly encouraged to closely watch their birds and report a sudden increase in the number of sick birds or bird deaths to the Avian Influenza Hotline at 770-766-6850.
“As the ongoing, nationwide HPAI outbreak continues, implementing and maintaining strict biosecurity measures has never been more important,” said Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper. “To date, the ongoing outbreak has impacted more than 133 million birds nationwide and less than .025% of those birds have been from Georgia, the nation’s top poultry producer – that speaks to the effectiveness of biosecurity and the importance of the work our animal health professionals and poultry producers are doing every single day to ensure the safety of their animals, employees, and operations.”
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