Affected counties
Counties with confirmed findings of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) since December 19th, 2014
Total affected flock
2014 top-producing states
EGGS
CHICKEN, BROILER
TURKEYS
Top importers of U.S. poultry and poultry-products
In millions of dollars
| Name | Total | Action |
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Influenza type A subtypes
Bird flu is caused by an influenza type A virus which infects poultry. The viruses are a combination of two groups of proteins: hemagglutinin and neuraminidase. Many different combinations of “H” and “N” proteins are possible and each combination is considered a different subtype. The highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAI) currently spreading across the Midwest is of the H5N2 subtype.
Note: Only human and avian infections are shown; some of these subtypes also infect swine, horses, dogs and other animals. Mixed subtypes and hybrids not shown. * H17N10 and H18N11 subtypes have only been found in bats.
Containing the outbreak
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's response plan for bird flu outbreaks:
Quarantine
Restrict the movement of poultry and equipment in the affected area
Eradicate
Humanely euthanize the affected flock(s)
Monitor
Test wild and domestic birds around the quarantine area
Disinfect
Kill the virus in the affected flock locations
Test
Confirm the farm is free of bird flu
Quarantine
Restrict the movement of poultry and equipment in the affected area
Eradicate
Humanely euthanize the affected flock(s)
Monitor
Test wild and domestic birds around the quarantine area
Disinfect
Kill the virus in the affected flock locations
Test
Confirm the farm is free of bird flu
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture; FluNet; WHO; Universal Protein Resource (UniProt); Influenza Research Database; Reuters
Additional work by Matthew Weber and Jessica Wang