INDIANAPOLIS — On Feb. 11, the Indiana State Board of Animal Health (BOAH) announced that 29,000 turkeys were culled following the confirmation of Highly pathogenic H5N1 in Dubois County, Ind. 

BOAH added that a 10-km control area would be put around the commercial farm where H5NI was detected. Eighteen commercial flocks within the control area are under quarantine until further notice. 

Recent tests were negative on the other flocks, but testing will continue in the control area on a weekly basis. 

“BOAH is working with multiple state and federal partners to respond to this event, including Indiana Department of Health, Indiana Department of Homeland Security, Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Indiana Department of Environmental Management, and USDA Veterinary Services and Farm Service Agency,” the agency said. 

In response to the news in Indiana, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the US Department of Agriculture shared that Taiwan currently will restrict poultry meat and eggs coming from Indiana. China and South Korea also plan to block non-heated poultry meat from the state.  

This is the first confirmed case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in commercial poultry in the United States since 2020. HPAI was last identified in commercial flocks in Indiana in 2016. 

When the H5N1 cases were first reported to APHIS, samples from the affected flock were tested at the Indiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at Purdue University, part of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network. They were later confirmed at the APHIS National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa.