Source: Chris Scott, MEATINGPLACE, 1/19/16


Even as poultry producers in Indiana absorb the news of more cases of avian influenza — confirmed at 10 farms — at least one industry analyst notes that USDA is confident the industry’s biosecurity measures are working.

Poultry farms in Adams County are on high alert following the initial discovery of the H7N8 strain of avian influenza in Dubois County that has already spread to other farms, according to local media reports. Adams County Commissioner Ken Fruechette told the Decatur Daily Democrat that the biosecurity measures imposed during last year’s bird flu outbreak have been tightened at local poultry farms. He added that some insurance companies now offer policies covering financial losses from bird flu outbreaks.

Meanwhile, Stephens Inc. analyst Farha Aslam reported to investors that USDA is confident that the impact of this Indiana round of avian influenza should be far less than last year’s outbreak, which USDA said killed a total of 51 million U.S. birds. The biosecurity measures already in place apparently helped limit discovery of new cases, despite extensive testing in the last 48 hours, she added. Aslam said the supply of domestic turkeys is already tight, so the U.S. turkey market is expected to remain tight, even though the loss of birds so far has been limited to a single farm.

Despite the renewed ban on U.S. poultry by South Korea this week, most other trade restrictions have been limited to poultry from Indiana since Friday’s news of the first outbreak in the Hoosier State. Indiana is the nation’s fourth-largest producer of turkeys and the 15th-largest chicken producer, Aslam noted.

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