On Mar. 31, 2023, the Oregon Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service confirmed the presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza in non-commercial backyard flock (non-poultry) in Klamath County.

This was the first HPAI confirmation in Klamath County. The affected flock included approximately 25 birds including ducks, chickens and guinea fowl.

Birds from the flock tested positive for the disease on March 22 and were euthanized on the property. None will enter the food system and there is no immediate public health risk, according to the state Department of Agriculture. ODA has now confirmed 27 cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza since May 5, 2022 — all in backyard flocks.

No commercial poultry farms have been affected. Of the 27 cases identified statewide, seven have been in Deschutes County; four in Polk County; three in Linn County; two each in Douglas, Columbia and Tillamook counties; and one each in Lane, Coos, Yamhill, Clackamas, Umatilla, Josephine and Klamath counties.

As of March 29, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports bird flu has infected 58.6 million poultry in 47 states, and 6,497 wild birds in all 50 states. There has been just one case of human transmission, at a commercial farm in Colorado on April 28, 2022. Oregon has one active regional quarantine to stop the spread of bird flu in Polk County. Past quarantines in Deschutes, Lane and Malheur counties have been lifted.