The H7N8 strain is different than the H5N2 virus that led to the deaths of about 48 million turkeys and chickens last summer.
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That 100 farms tested over 24 hours in Dubois County came back negative was a sign control measures appeared to be working, said Denise Derrer, a spokeswoman for the Indiana State Board of Animal Health.
Birds from nine more commercial turkey farms in IN have tested positive for bird flu. Officials had begun euthanizing birds at most of the new sites, the board said.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, after the flock of turkeys at the farm in Dubois County experienced higher mortalities, samples from the flock were tested by Farbest Farms.
Avian flu arrived in the U.S.in 2015 via migratory birds, but how it is spread to birds inside confined barns continues to be a topic of research for poultry officials and farmers. Epidemiologists are not certain why the virus would surface during the winter months, either, although officials say it can surface at any time.
The Indiana farm where the strain was first found is associated with Farbest Farms, a company that produces about 15 million turkeys a year and has contract growers in Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky. No one has been able to figure out for sure how the H5N2 bird flu virus got into the domestic bird flock in 2015, or how it spread from farm to farm.
“This finding of highly pathogenic H7N8 is unique to Indiana and the nation”, said Indiana State Veterinarian Bret D. Marsh.
Indiana’s poultry industry brings in $2.5 billion a year, Derrer said.
“The poultry industry is vital to IN and we are bringing all necessary resources to deal with this situation”, the governor said IN a written statement afterward.
There are no known cases of H7N8 infections in humans, but as a precaution, the USDA recommends cooking poultry and eggs to an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
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The H7N8 bird flu virus – How was it introduced?
