Second Complex in Weld County CO. infected with HPAI During July

An integrated egg-production complex in Weld County, CO. was infected with HPAI over the past weekend.

This is the second time that the recently acquired complex of 1.4 million hens has been infected. The operation had superlative structural and operational biosecurity at the time of the previous infection occurring at the end of September 2022.

The event follows a diagnosis in another 1.6 million complex in Weld County at the beginning of July. This outbreak was the third to have occurred on the complex and depopulation and burial has just been completed.

Epidemiologic investigations are in progress to ascertain the source of infection. It should be possible to determine whether the infection was derived from wild birds or dairy herds. Bovine influenza-H5N1 is prevalent in Weld County and the State with over 40 herds diagnosed to date.