In an April 29 letter to White House Office of Management and Budget Director Shaun Donovan, U.S. Senate and House Agriculture Committee leadership called for emergency assistance to be released to poultry and egg producers whose flocks have suffered losses due to Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N2 infections.
Agriculture Committee Chairmen Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and Rep. K. Michael Conaway, R-Texas, and Ranking Members Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., noted that migratory birds carrying this disease are flying north, through dense poultry producing regions of the country, and feed at bodies of water within very close proximity to commercial poultry farms. As migration continues through the spring and fall, the virus is expected to continue spreading, the letter said.
Governors in Minnesota and Iowa have declared states of emergency in those states due to the extent of losses resulting from H5N2 infections. In Iowa, the nation's No. 1 egg-producing state, infections have been detected in flocks including more than 9 million birds at 21 sites in 10 counties. In Minnesota, which is the top turkey-producing state, H5N2 infections in turkey flocks have been detected in 80 farms spread across more than a dozen counties. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has authorized use of National Guard troops to assist in the H5N2 response.
According to the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), H5N2 and H5N8 infections have been detected in 114 sites across 13 states, affecting more than 21 million animals. All of the detections to date have been in the Mississippi, Central and Pacific flyways - areas over which migratory birds fly during annual migrations. Georgia, which is the No. 1 broiler-producing state, is in the Atlantic Flyway, though it borders Alabama and Tennessee, which are both in the Mississippi Flyway.
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