Final Quarantine Lifted From Indiana Poultry Facility

The last remaining quarantine associated with the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) cases identified in Dubois County, Ind. has officially been lifted by the Indiana State Board of Animal Health (BOAH). This quarantine release coincides with the state achieving avian influenza-free status, after logging 90 consecutive days with no new cases of the poultry disease.

On January 15, a commercial turkey farm in Dubois County was diagnosed with the H7N8 HPAI virus. Within 24 hours, another nine avian influenza-infected turkey farms were identified nearby through rapid surveillance testing.

For 38 days, BOAH led the active response to eradicate the influenza virus from the area and assure safe and proper disposal of the birds. Indiana Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and other state and local agencies assisted to prevent the situation from growing to levels seen in 2015 in the Upper Midwest, when a different HPAI strain caused the loss of 48 million birds on 223 farms. Indiana's efforts focused on protecting the state's $2.4 billion poultry industry that employs 14,000 Hoosiers.