ELBERT COUNTY, Ga. — Georgia officials announced Wednesday that they have found a second case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), known more commonly as bird flu, in a second commercial poultry flock.
Channel 2 Action News reported last week on the first case in Elbert County. The Georgia Department of Agriculture confirmed the second case was also identified in Elbert County.
State officials said both locations where bird flu was detected were about 210 yards away from each other.
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Channel 2 Consumer Investigator Justin Gray spoke with Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper about the precautions the state is taking. Harper said that Georgia products are still safe.
“I can confirm that our poultry products in this state are 100% safe and secure. We have rigorous testing mechanism in place, both from the farm and the processing facilities,” Harper said. “We can also state with confidence and surety that no Infected poultry ever made it into the supply chain.”
Officials closed the area around where the first detection was made and all operations within a 6.2 mile radius were halted for quarantine and surveillance testing.
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With the latest detection announced this morning, and a separate detection at a Clayton County backyard flock on Jan. 13, HPAI is still a concern for Georgia’s poultry flocks and economy.
The poultry industry in Georgia is about $30 billion of its economy.
Due to the detection of the bird flu in Georgia, all poultry exhibitions, shows, swaps, meets, and sales (flea markets, auction markets) in the State of Georgia are suspended until further notice.
Officials said bird flu has been identified four times in backyard chickens in Georgia. Commercial flocks in 35 other states have reported bird flu since the nationwide outbreak began in 2022.
“As the ongoing, nationwide HPAI outbreak continues, implementing and maintaining strict biosecurity measures has never been more important,” Harper said previously. “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.”
To report concerns about the avian influenza, go online here or call 770-766-6850.
If you see dead wild birds in unusually high numbers at single locations, report it to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources online or by calling 1-800-366-2661.
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