Second Case of Bird Flu Confirmed in Walker County

Georgia officials now confirm a second case of bird flu in Walker County.

This is a different flock since the first one reported two weeks ago.

But officials say it is inside the Control area for the first case.

“Through routine surveillance testing, a second commercial poultry operation in Walker County has been confirmed positive for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza. Control area testing is critical to identifying the virus as early as possible and limiting its spread into the environment. HPAI poses a serious threat to Georgia’s number one industry and to the thousands of Georgians whose livelihoods depend on poultry production. The Georgia Department of Agriculture deployed immediately to Walker 02, and our teams are working around the clock to contain the virus, protect our state’s poultry flock, and minimize impacts to other producers and Georgia consumers.”

– Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler J Harper said.

The state Agriculture Department only identifies the new source as a commercial flock with 16-thousand broiler chickens.

The test came back on Thursday and they had already eliminated the chickens by Friday.

All commercial producers within a six mile radius of the grower remain under quarantine.

They have expanded the area to include five more growers.

The Department says chicken growing is the state’s number one industry.