Tennessee reports HPAI case in commercial broilers

Tennessee State Veterinarian Samantha Beaty on January 20 reported a new detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in a commercial broiler chicken flock at a farm in Weakley County. Following a sudden spike in bird deaths, lab tests confirmed the presence of H5N1 HPAI.

Since September of 2022, HPAI cases in Tennessee have sickened domesticated chickens, geese, ducks, and turkeys in Bledsoe, Davidson, Obion, Tipton, and Weakley Counties. However, prior to this, there have been only three other HPAI-affected Tennessee flocks during this outbreak.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), all three of the state’s previous cases were in commercial broiler breeder flocks. One of those was in Bledsoe County and involved 20,900 chickens, while the other two were in Weakley County, involving 43,600 and 19,000 chickens. The Bledsoe County case was confirmed on November 15, 2022, while both previous Weakley County cases were confirmed on December 28, 2022. Read more