Avian flu detected in Kentucky near Tennessee border
Published 6:30 am Tuesday, February 15, 2022
A case of avian influenza has been detected in a flock of commercial broiler chickens in Kentucky near the Tennessee border, according to a joint news release from the states’ agriculture departments.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed the presence of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in samples from Fulton County, Kentucky, according to the release. Another suspected case in Webster County, Kentucky, is awaiting lab confirmation.
Kentucky officials have quarantined the affected premises and established a 10-kilometer surveillance zone, which dips into Obion County in Tennessee. Federal and state partners are working jointly on surveillance and testing within the zone.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza is deadly to domesticated chickens and turkeys. It does not present a food safety risk.
Nonetheless, birds from affected flocks will not enter the food system. No human cases of avian influenza viruses have been detected in the United States.