Commonground
Senior Moderator
Press Release
Media Contact:
aphispress@usda.gov
WASHINGTON, January 17, 2025—As part of its ongoing, multi-faceted efforts to combat the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today is updating its policy for pre-slaughter surveillance to enhance testing of turkey flocks in affected states. In late December 2024, APHIS became aware of a genetic link between turkeys potentially infected with HPAI H5N1, virus detected in raw pet food, and an infected household cat.
Out of an abundance of caution, and to remove a potential avenue for ongoing disease spread as well as to bolster consumer and trading partner confidence, APHIS collaborated with state animal health officials and the poultry industry to update its guidance for existing pre-slaughter surveillance steps to further ensure that affected poultry does not enter the food system. APHIS will continue to report confirmed HPAI detections to the World Organisation for Animal Health and on the APHIS website (more information below).
These updates include implementing isolation with clinical monitoring and premovement testing 72 hours prior to sending to slaughter, for turkey premises outside control areas in HPAI-affected states. Specifically, APHIS will be piloting this enhanced pre-slaughter surveillance, starting with turkey premises greater than 500 birds in Minnesota and South Dakota, based on current and historical HPAI detections of commercial turkey premises in these states. These states were selected because of genetic linkages to virus from infected cats and because of the high percentage of cases in turkeys in those states. APHIS will continue to evaluate progress of the outbreak and may update this policy, if needed, to include additional states.
continued: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/news/age...-surveillance-turkey-flocks-highly-pathogenic
Media Contact:
aphispress@usda.gov
WASHINGTON, January 17, 2025—As part of its ongoing, multi-faceted efforts to combat the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today is updating its policy for pre-slaughter surveillance to enhance testing of turkey flocks in affected states. In late December 2024, APHIS became aware of a genetic link between turkeys potentially infected with HPAI H5N1, virus detected in raw pet food, and an infected household cat.
Out of an abundance of caution, and to remove a potential avenue for ongoing disease spread as well as to bolster consumer and trading partner confidence, APHIS collaborated with state animal health officials and the poultry industry to update its guidance for existing pre-slaughter surveillance steps to further ensure that affected poultry does not enter the food system. APHIS will continue to report confirmed HPAI detections to the World Organisation for Animal Health and on the APHIS website (more information below).
These updates include implementing isolation with clinical monitoring and premovement testing 72 hours prior to sending to slaughter, for turkey premises outside control areas in HPAI-affected states. Specifically, APHIS will be piloting this enhanced pre-slaughter surveillance, starting with turkey premises greater than 500 birds in Minnesota and South Dakota, based on current and historical HPAI detections of commercial turkey premises in these states. These states were selected because of genetic linkages to virus from infected cats and because of the high percentage of cases in turkeys in those states. APHIS will continue to evaluate progress of the outbreak and may update this policy, if needed, to include additional states.
continued: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/news/age...-surveillance-turkey-flocks-highly-pathogenic