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First case of 2018 avian flu confirmed

The Missouri Department of Agriculture has confirmed a case of low-pathogenic avian flu in a commercial turkey flock in southwest Missouri.

The strain has been identified as H7N1 on March 5th (2018). The department says it responded to the incident in Jasper County, Missouri, along with the USDA and industry partners, putting a quarantine in place and that all commercial flocks within about a six-mile radius tested negative for avian influenza.

Low-path avian flu typically produces no sign of disease in birds and the risk to the general public is consider LOW. The outbreak of high-path avian flu was in 2015 in Iowa, Minnesota and scattered cases in other states, including Missouri. The USDA says this is the first case of AI confirmed in the U.S. this year.