HPAI SITUATION UPDATE: March 27, 2025
An additional backyard flock in Montgomery County, MD has tested presumptive positive for H5 avian influenza at the Salisbury Animal Health Laboratory, part of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network. Additional samples have been sent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) for further confirmation.
The Maryland Department of Agriculture has quarantined the affected premises, and the birds on the property are being depopulated to prevent the spread of disease. Birds from the affected flock will not enter the food system.
All announcements and pertinent information regarding the HPAI situation in Maryland will be posted at www.mda.maryland.gov/avianflu. This is the second detection in Montgomery County following a detection in January.
BACKGROUND
Avian influenza is a highly contagious airborne respiratory virus that spreads quickly among birds through nasal and eye secretions and manure. The virus can be spread from flock to flock, including flocks of wild birds, through contact with infected poultry, equipment, and the clothing and shoes of caretakers. This virus affects poultry, like chickens, ducks, and turkeys, and some wild bird species, such as ducks, geese, shorebirds, and raptors.
IF YOU HAVE SICK POULTRY OR EXPERIENCE INCREASED MORTALITY
- Commercial poultry producers should follow the protocol of notifying the company they grow for when they notice signs of disease.
- Maryland backyard flock owners who notice any of the signs of HPAI in their flock should email the email the Maryland Department of Agriculture Animal Health team at md.birdflu@maryland.gov or animalhealth.mda@maryland.gov or by calling 410-841-5810. Please be prepared to provide your contact information, size of flock, location, and concerns. Do not take dead or sick birds to a lab to be tested to move them off-site.
As a reminder, backyard flock owners are required to register their flocks with the Maryland Department of Agriculture to assist in protecting Maryland’s poultry industries from diseases such as HPAI.
How to register?
Complete the Maryland Poultry Premises Registration Form
Email the form to animalhealth.mda@maryland.gov
Mail the form to 50 Harry S. Truman Parkway, Annapolis, MD 21401
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues to assess that the current H5N1 bird flu risk to the general public remains low. People with job- or recreation-related exposures to infected animals are at increased risk, especially when those exposures happen without the use of appropriate personal protective equipment. Additional information for workers exposed to H5N1 bird flu is available here.
Additionally, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources urges waterfowl hunters to take safety precautions to prevent the spread of the virus by washing hands and clothes after handling game and using dedicated clothing, boots, and tools for cleaning game that are not used around domestic poultry or pet birds. Individuals who encounter a dead wild bird should call USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which is coordinating collection and disposal efforts with the Department of Natural Resources, at 1-877-463-6497.
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