Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza continues to spread across the Pacific Northwest. Last week, the Oregon Department of Agriculture confirmed a case of bird flu in a backyard flock of ducks and geese in Polk County. The flock's owner notified a private veterinarian after the sudden death of at least one bird; meanwhile, other birds in the flock were displaying clinical signs consistent with HPAI. The veterinarian sent a sample of the deceased bird to Oregon State University in Corvallis. A preliminary test came back positive for HPAI. NVSL made the official confirmation on June 9th.

Meanwhile a backyard flock in Washington’s Yakima County tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza on June 7th. A second Yakima case was confirmed June 10th. This detection makes the 10th county in Washington to have confirmed domestic flocks with bird flu, with a total of 19 infected flocks statewide. All infected flocks have had contact with wild waterfowl, which are known to transmit the virus without necessarily being affected by it. 

Since HPAI was first detected in Washington a month ago, the Washington State Department of Agriculture has been responding to the outbreak and urging flock owners to devote all efforts to protecting uninfected flocks, especially keeping domestic flocks isolated from wild waterfowl.

“The virus continues to be present in all corners of our state,” State Veterinarian Dr. Amber Itle added. “It’s so important we remain vigilant.”

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