More than 2.3 million birds from commercial and backyard flocks in Pennsylvania have been affected with avian influenza so far this year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
The latest instance of avian influenza in Pennsylvania has been reported in Philadelphia.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), more than 1,000 birds at a live bird market in Philadelphia have been affected with bird flu or H5N1.
With this latest reported case, a total of 2,346,270 birds from seven commercial flocks and nine backyard flocks in the state have been affected so far this year, according to the APHIS.
Here is the current list of bird flu cases reported so far in Pennsylvania this year:
Adams County
Feb. 4: Non-poultry, 30 birds affected
Butler County
Feb. 5: Non-poultry, 610 birds affected
Cumberland County
Feb. 5: Commercial broiler production, 26,400 birds affected
Feb. 11: Commercial duck meat bird production, 20,000 birds affected
Dauphin County
Feb. 4: Commercial table egg layer, 1,975,300 birds affected
Lancaster County
February 6: Poultry, 14,900 birds affected
Feb. 7: Poultry, 610 birds affected
Feb. 11: Commercial broiler production, 80,000 birds affected
Feb. 12: Poultry, 600 birds affected
Lebanon County
Feb. 7: Commercial broiler production, 53,500 birds affected
Feb. 6: Commercial table egg layer, 85,100 birds affected
Lehigh County
Jan. 28: Poultry, 48,000 birds affected
Luzerne County
Feb. 20: Non-poultry, 90 birds affected
Monroe County
Jan. 30: Non-poultry, 30 birds affected
Philadelphia County
Feb. 24: Live bird market, 1,100 birds affected
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it plans to spend up to $1 billion in Commodity Credit Corporation funds to try to reduce the spread of the highly pathogenic bird flu in poultry. The USDA scrambled earlier this month to rehire employees working on bird flu issues, who were among the thousands of federal employees eliminated on the recommendations of billionaire non-government official Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is working to carry out President Trump’s promise to streamline and reshape the federal government.
Bird flu has disrupted the work of poultry farmers for years and began infecting dairy herds last year. A recent spike in egg prices has led to renewed public attention to the disease.
Information from the Associated Press and Pennsylvania Capital-Star was used in this report.
