Worth County among newest reported cases of Avian Influenza

DES MOINES — Three more cases of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza have been reported in the state of Iowa, with north-central Iowa having its first reported case of the fall.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship on Monday afternoon announced the new cases in a commercial turkey flock in Worth County, a commercial layer flock in Sioux County, and a backyard mixed species flock in Monona County.

Iowa has now had 11 detections of H5N1 within poultry in 2024, with seven of those detections coming over the last couple of weeks, most of them being in northwestern Iowa.

Avian Influenza is a viral disease that affects both wild and domestic bird populations. It can travel in wild birds without those birds appearing sick, but is often fatal to domestic bird populations, including chickens and wild turkeys.