The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirms avian flu detections in bird flocks in the state.
Data from the organizations shows that the month of November had an uptick in confirmed infections.
The most recent avian flu detection occurred in late November at two commercial turkey flocks the state. One in Yankton County affects 49,000 birds and one in McPherson affects over 60,000 birds.
The USDA said there are 47 states that have a least one confirmed infected flock. In the month of November, nearly eight million birds have been affected by the virus and the number continues to grow.
Beth Thompson is the State Veterinarian. She said it is not just the commercial turkey facilities that are experiencing an uptick in confirmed avian flu.
“You also have backyard flocks that are being affected too. Just within the last week or two we have had a couple in South Dakota. And they may range to, you know, a couple of roosters and a handful of hens. Or people have ducks, people have peacocks, all of those different species are being affected by this virus,” said Thompson.
The avian flu is caused by a mixture of virus proteins. A mixture that creates unique genetic influenza viruses in each flock.
Thompson said the genetic differences in the virus per flock make it nearly impossible to control or minimize an outbreak.
“This outbreak, we are seeing individual introductions of the virus into the different farms. So we know the farmers and the people that are working on the farms aren’t tracking the virus. But somehow, its still getting into the barns. That’s the puzzle we all need to figure out,” said Thompson.
Nationwide, the USDA reports there has been over 68 million birds infected over the past year so far. This surpasses last years’ total which infected 52 million birds – which NPR reports was one of the highest totals ever.
There is currently no way to fight the virus in birds. Infected birds are culled to stop the spread.
