Outbreaks of bird flu have been detected at three poultry operations in Maryland and Delaware, putting the Washington, D.C., metro area on high alert as bird flu outbreaks have been increasing nationwide.
Maryland Department of Agriculture officials said Friday the H5N1 strain of avian influenza was detected at a chicken operation in Caroline County, marking the first H5N1 case at a Maryland poultry farm since 2023. Caroline County is a little over 70 miles from Washington, D.C.
The discovery follows two cases of positive bird flu testing at separate commercial farms in Delaware.
“Everybody is already on high alert because it’s the season,” Maryland state veterinarian Jennifer Trout said on Friday. “We’ve had wild bird outbreaks and positive flocks in Delaware, and now we have this one in Maryland.
While officials have also found the strain in wild birds in the Washington, D.C., area, bird flu has not been detected in any humans.
“We’re tripling down now” with safety and precautionary measures, Trout said. She added that around 250,000 birds were euthanized to stop the spread of the virus at the Caroline County farm.
The poultry industry is strong in the region. Across all operations, about 19,000 people are employed in the chicken industry and it generates about $4.4 billion a year, according to the Delmarva Chicken Association, which encompasses most of Delaware and the eastern shores of Maryland and Virginia.
“The detections in our region should be very concerning to commercial and backyard flock owners,” Maryland Agriculture Secretary Kevin Atticks said in a statement on Thursday. "MDA is monitoring the situation very closely and will continue to provide updates as they become available."
Officials in Virginia said they are “monitoring the situation" and have not found any cases of bird flu in domestic animals or humans.
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“We are staying as prepared as we can be,” said Elena Diskin, an epidemiology program manager at the Virginia Department of Health. “We’re watching the national situation and working with our animal health partners to monitor animals’ health and coordinate resources.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been 66 confirmed human cases of bird flu since April 2024. The CDC also said that since 2022, bird flu has affected about 134 million wild birds, commercial poultry, and backyard flocks in all 50 states.