NEW YORK — Highly pathogenic avian influenza has been detected in a non-commercial barnyard on Long Island in New York, federal authorities confirmed Saturday.
Samples were tested at the Cornell University Animal Health Diagnostic Center and confirmed at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service laboratories in Ames, in Iowa.
New York state officials have quarantined the site, located in Suffolk County. Birds on affected properties “will be depopulated to prevent the spread of disease,” the USDA said in a statement, noting that these animals will not enter the food system.
The virus has been detected in commercial flocks of turkeys in southern Indiana, commercial broiler chickens in Kentucky and mixed-species birds in northern Virginia.
Indiana state officials confirmed on Saturday that the virus had been detected at a fourth poultry farm in that state. Authorities have begun euthanizing all 15,200 birds at the last farm to prevent the disease from spreading.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the recent detections of avian flu do not present an immediate public health concern. No human cases of these viruses have been detected in the United States, according to the USDA.
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