Bird Flu Case Found In Southern Wisconsin Chicken Flock

Mar 15, 2022

The bird flu has been confirmed in a commercial chicken operation in Wisconsin, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday.

Samples from the flock were tested at the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory and confirmed at the National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa, the agency said in a statement.

State animal health officials have quarantined the property in southern Wisconsin's Jefferson County, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of Milwaukee. All chickens in the flock will be destroyed and will not enter the food system, the USDA said.

Farms that raise turkeys and chickens for consumption have been on high alert and taking steps to increase biosecurity since avian influenza was recently discovered in a handful of states, including Indiana and Iowa. Producers fear a repeat of a widespread bird flu outbreak in 2015 that killed 50 million birds across 15 states and cost the federal government nearly $1 billion.

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Video: 2026 T.K. Cheung Lecture in Animal Science - Dan Weary

T.K. Cheung Lecture in Animal Science: "Using science to assess and improve the welfare of dairy cattle"

Dan Weary is a Professor at the University of British Columbia. Dan did his BSc and MSc at McGill and Doctorate at Oxford before co-founding UBC’s Animal Welfare Program where he now co-directs this active research group. His research focuses on understanding the perspectives of animals and applying these insights to develop methods of assessing animal welfare and improving the lives of animals. His work has helped drive changes in practices (including the adoption of higher milk rations for calves and pain management for disbudding) and housing methods (including the adoption of social housing for pre-weaned calves). He also studies cow comfort and lameness, social interactions among cows, and interactions between cows, human handlers and technologies like automated millking systems that are increasingly used on farms. His presentation will outline key questions in cattle welfare, highlight recent UBC research addressing them, and showcase innovative methods for improving the lives of cattle and their caretakers.