On Apr. 30, 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 non-commercial, backyard flock (non-poultry) in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska.

In Alaska, routine surveillance of wild and domestic birds for avian influenza has occurred for many years with the occasional detection of Low Pathogenic viruses in some wild waterfowl. In 2016, as part of routine surveillance, a wild mallard was found to have Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) A(H5N2).