The state Board of Animal Health has not reported any bird flu outbreaks in domesticated birds for more than a month.
The last reported case was at a commercial table egg pullet in Kosciusko County on March 28, according to the Board’s Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) dashboard.
Denise Derrer Spears, public information director for the board, said the changing of the seasons played a big part in the sudden decrease.
“Wild birds have been the major source for the infections on the farms,” she said. “As we get past migration season, and those birds stop moving as much, that gives us more hope that we can get farther down the road and hopefully get through this summer without any new cases.”
Prior to the last event, new cases of bird flu were being reported nearly every week since the start of the year. In total, 27 commercial and hobby flocks were confirmed to have bird flu since Jan. 1.
Spears reiterated that even though commercial flocks haven’t been hit recently, the disease is still out there.
“The Indiana Department of Natural Resources is continuing to monitor wild birds, and they've had findings as late as last week in Noble and Porter counties,” she said. “So, it's still out there.”
Over eight and a half million birds in Indiana have been killed by HPAI since 2022.
Read more: The financial and mental toll of bird flu outbreaks
