HPAI devastating western Ohio, first human case reported

By Matt Reese

For years, western Ohio’s concentrated hub of commercial poultry producers planned and prepared for the possibility of high path avian influenza spread by wild birds, hoping it would never happen. On Dec. 24 of 2024, though, it happened.

“For perspective of how this is really a huge impact, we’ve been dealing with this since 2022. Up until Christmas Eve, in 2024 we had zero cases of commercial flocks in Ohio and only 3 cases of backyard flocks. Then all of the sudden Christmas Eve came. Since 2022 up to Christmas Eve, over the 3 years we had depopulated about 9.4 million birds. Currently, since Christmas Eve until Feb. 14, we’re over 11.5 million birds depopulated just in that window,” said Brian Baldridge, Director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture. “Our livestock people know when there’s a subtle change. Their birds could be going off feed, could be going off water or maybe they’re just more docile when you’re coming in.… Continue reading