"Concern rises after positive cases found in Delaware’s Kent County and on Maryland’s Eastern Shore."
"Bird flu outbreaks have been detected at three poultry operations in Maryland and Delaware, impacting more than 500,000 chickens and leading to heightened alert among officials in the Washington region.
On Friday, Maryland Department of Agriculture officials said the H5N1 strain of avian influenza had been detected at a chicken operation in Caroline County during routine sampling of the birds before they are harvested. The outbreak marked the first H5N1 case at a Maryland poultry farm since 2023, officials said, and it followed two incidents of positive bird flu testing at separate commercial farms in Delaware’s Kent County. Officials have also found instances of the strain in wild birds in the two states but have not detected any cases in humans in the area.
“Everybody is already on high alert because it’s the season,” Maryland state veterinarian Jennifer Trout said Friday. “We’ve had wild bird outbreaks and positive flocks in Delaware, and now we have this one in Maryland."
Dana Hedgpeth reports for the Washington Post January 11, 2025.
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