On Mar. 4, 2022, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) confirmed the presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza in a flock of commercial broiler chickens in Stoddard County, Missouri.

“State officials quarantined the affected premises, and birds on the properties will be depopulated to prevent the spread of the disease,” APHIS said in a press statement, “Birds from the flock will not enter the food system.”

APHIS said it tested a flock of commercial broiler chickens in Stoddard County that “confirmed the presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza.”

Samples from the flock were tested at the University of Missouri Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, part of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network, and confirmed at the APHIS National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa.

Federal and state partners were jointly working on additional surveillance and testing in area around the flock that tested positive for avian flu.