“Some 5 percent of egg-laying hens are down in numbers nationally, and that has affected the price of eggs in stores,” said Beth Carlson, deputy state veterinarian at the North Dakota State Veterinarian Office.

Outbreaks of the Eurasian H5 strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) hit the nation in 2022, and by the end of December, more than 52.7 million animals were lost to the disease itself or to depopulation in 46 states, according to USDA.

In 2022, North Dakota experienced its first case of avian influenza, according to Carlson.

“We saw our first case last year in early April, and we saw quite a few cases in the spring. From early April to early November, we had 24 different farms that were affected in 16 different counties,” Carlson said.

Five of those were commercial turkey flocks, and the other 19 were backyard-type flocks.

“The outbreak was much more widespread than when we had it in 2016, when only two flocks were affected,” she said.

Carlson said the reason for this is that migratory birds played a much larger component in spreading avian influenza in 2022 compared to 2016.

“There was a much higher rate of infection in the migratory birds, and that was the primary route of infection,” she said. “Every case had some kind of component of exposure to wild birds.”

Carlson explained every flock that was infected had a history of either a large number of migratory birds in the area or a large number of dead geese left behind after birds migrated through.

“In the case of some of the backyard flocks, there was an injured or dead bird actually in their yard, or someone on the farm had gone bird hunting and had cleaned birds,” Carlson said.

In a few cases, someone had found an injured or sick bird and tried to help it or they brought it home and tried to care for it, inadvertently exposing their domestic birds to it.

Some wild birds are also carriers for the virus, even though they aren’t showing symptoms of the disease. If they aren’t currently sick, they are less likely to be shedding large amounts of virus.

“If you own birds and you hunt, it’s best to either avoid hunting or change your clothes when you get home and disinfect,” she said.

In addition, hunters should keep as much separation as possible, and clean birds before they come home.

“Have someone else care for the birds and clean the birds before you come home – that kind of thing,” Carlson said.

There is no evidence that there are cases of human illness resulting from this outbreak in the U.S., she said. While the recommendation is to never eat a sick animal, there are no known adverse effects from eating an animal that appears healthy, according to Carlson.

Most of North Dakota cases were in April and May 2022, and cases were all over the state. They included many backyard flocks, along with the five commercial turkey flocks in the state.

“The majority of our cases were in the spring – 16 of them in April and May, with most in April,” Carlson said.

In the fall, there was a resurgence of cases, and North Dakota saw eight cases. Most of those were in September, but there were a few in October and November.

“Our last case we identified was in November,” she said. There have been no cases in 2023.

Carlson said commercial turkey farms usually have multiple barns because they’re grouped by age.

“When they have an outbreak of avian influenza, usually only one or two barns are affected at first, but it spreads, and so it’s pretty aggressive,” she said. “And the whole barn will be sick and dying within a few days. To avoid the accumulation of virus and the animal suffering, usually the preferred way to handle that is to euthanize all the birds on the farm as quickly as possible.”

Carlson said they need to euthanize all birds, including those that don’t appear to be affected, because the spread is so aggressive.

“Usually by the time it’s identified in one barn, it is probably too late to prevent spread to those other buildings, and it’s only a matter of time until those birds are going to get sick and die,” she said.

During the outbreak of avian influenza in North Dakota, more than 230,000 birds either died or were euthanized. Flock owners are compensated for the ones that are euthanized.

“They are also compensated for the cleaning and disinfection of the buildings, but they have to remain empty for a certain amount of time,” Carlson said. “Then we do some environmental testing of the barns to make sure that there’s no virus remaining in the building.”

After those birds are euthanized, they have to be disposed of. While one of the options is that they can be buried, in most places in North Dakota, the soil type and water tables make that not a very good option.

“In most cases, the birds are composted,” she said. “That works well with birds because of their size and their body composition, they compost pretty quickly.”

The North Dakota State Veterinarian’s Office works with composting experts and they advise the flock owners on how to construct the compost pile. It has to reach a certain temperature to help break down the carcass and to make sure the virus is destroyed.

“It actually makes a fairly good fertilizer,” Carlson said.

The program is a federal program and that’s where the funding comes from. State and federal animal health authorities work together to administer the program.

Carlson said they are preparing as if they might have a resurgence of avian influenza. They are advising poultry owners to be prepared and have good biosecurity plans in place and protect their birds and be prepared to protect them and have good separation between their birds and wildlife.

“We are concerned we might see it again this spring. We’ll see what happens. But so far, it does not seem to be as prevalent in the wildlife as it was last year,” she said.

Nationally, cases are continuing to occur at a low rate.

The USDA confirmed that two Lancaster County, Penn., duck flocks had avian influenza on Feb. 1. At least one flock of ducks was being raised for commercial duck meat.