(The Center Square) – North Carolina’s first case in 11 months of bird flu in flocks has been detected in Hyde County along the coast in a commercial layer operation, the state Agriculture Department says.
There have been no human cases reported in the state, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Bird flu can be dangerous for humans, causing illness and even death. The death of a person in Louisiana, over age 65 with underlying health conditions, reported Monday was from H5N1 bird flu.
The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Veterinary Diagnostic Lab identification was confirmed by the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa. It’s the first case of high path avian influenza, or H5N1 bird flu, in the state since February 2024.
This kind of bird flu virus is “considered a low risk to people,” a release from the Agriculture Department said referencing the CDC. It is high risk, contagious, to other birds to include commercial and backyard flocks of poultry.
The danger to food safety, the release said, does not exist because infected birds do not enter the food supply.
North Carolina is No. 1 nationally in production of poultry and eggs, second in turkeys, and fourth in broilers (chickens).
The high path avian influenza has been reported in the state’s flocks 20 times dating back to March 29, 2022.