HPAI confirmed in commercial poultry flock in Georgia
The Georgia Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service confirmed a positive case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in a commercial poultry operation located in Elbert County, Georgia.
The affected farm in Elbert County has 45,500 breeder chickens.
This is the first confirmed HPAI case in a commercial poultry operation in Georgia, and the fifth detection in the state of Georgia. This is not the first time that the County has reported H5N1 case. As per records, the new case marks the fifth case of H5N1 in Georgia since the outbreak began in 2022. However, it is the first case affecting a commercial poultry operation.
Georgia produces the most chicken of any state in the U.S., with 1.3 billion chickens produced in 2022.