SALT LAKE CITY — A reason to celebrate for the state's poultry farmers is that the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food said they are “avian flu-free” and all facilities are off quarantine. The only outbreak this season so far was in Sanpete County, with over 140,000 turkeys that had to be killed or died from the disease, as reported in October of this year.
“It could have been much worse and we’re grateful that we weren’t as impacted this year as we were last year,” said Bailee Woolstenhulme, with the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza impacts poultry farmers and consumers all over the world. According to the USDA, in the past 30 days, 87 flocks of birds across the country have been confirmed with avian flu – that’s over 11 million birds that have died either from the illness or had to be depopulated.
But, officials in Utah say they are relieved and thankful we don’t have any active cases of avian flu in the state right now, and all facilities are off quarantine. “We are currently avian flu-free in the state of Utah, which we are so excited about,” added Woolstenhulme.
After devastating avian flu outbreaks in farms and backyards in 2022, officials are glad this season was not as severe. “We just cleared our one case we had this year. They’re out of quarantine, they’ve been disinfected and are good to go,” added Woolstenhulme. Last season, over 2.2 million birds died in six counties – it was a situation that veterinarians say was worse than they have ever seen. The impact of the virus could be felt by consumers in grocery stores, and emotionally and financially for the farmers and homes where these birds lived.
“Last year, we had all of those turkey farms in Utah that were hit right before Thanksgiving in the fall of 2022 and that was devastating for them,” explained Woolstenhulme. “Majority of those turkeys were heading to be ready for processing. That affects our food supply, and those farmers and their livelihoods.”
But after the painful impacts of the previous outbreaks, there are a variety of factors that have made this year better. “People were definitely a lot more prepared this year, they knew how to watch for it, and signs for it, they also did increase their biosecurity most of them did – and that definitely impacted it,” added Woolstenhulme. “We could have had changes in migration patterns as well. We’re not really sure but, where we didn’t see nearly as many cases, all throughout the state this year, that definitely could have been a factor.”
