DES MOINES, Iowa — Editor's note: The video above is from March 24, 2022.
Three poultry sites in central Iowa no longer need to use quarantine restrictions to mitigate the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship announced Thursday morning via a press release.
The restrictions had prohibited the transfer of poultry and poultry products on or off the affected sites. The release says the restrictions were lifted Monday, May 16.
The sites released from restrictions include a commercial pullet site in Franklin County, a commercial turkey site in Hamilton County and a commercial chicken breeding site in Humboldt County.
“This is a notable step forward in our state’s collaborative response to avian influenza, but our work is not done,” said Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig in a press release. “I am extremely proud of our ability to move quickly to implement our response plans that minimize virus spread, protect the health of Iowa’s poultry flocks and ensure farmers can continue farming. Moving forward, the Iowa Department of Agriculture, along with USDA, producers and other industry stakeholders will continue efforts to effectively manage this outbreak.”
The release from the department also says quarantines from other sites will be lifted as requirements for release are met.
The first reported cases of HPAI happened in Pottawattamie County in March. The most recent were reported in Bremer County on May 2, according to the department.
Other impacted counties include Buena Vista, Taylor, Warren, Guthrie, Cherokee, Osceola, Sac and Hardin.
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