A third case of highly pathogenic avian influenza in chickens, also known as bird flu, has been confirmed in Georgia this year. It’s the second case in a commercial poultry flock and the second detection in Elbert County, about 30 miles from Athens. 

The Georgia Department of Agriculture said there are an estimated 130,000 broiler chickens affected by this third case. A positive case of bird flu in this second flock in Elbert County was detected just days after one was confirmed in the first commercial flock of about 30,000. 

GDA spokesperson Matthew Agvent said a confirmation test from the USDA’s National Veterinary Services Lab was necessary before the second Elbert County case was publicly announced. 

Both flocks have been culled, said the GDA, though disposal, cleaning and disinfecting operations at both poultry farms are ongoing. 

“Our team is out there today working through the cold and snow so we can get this addressed as quickly as possible,” said GDA spokesperson Matthew Agvent. 

Avian influenza is extremely contagious and will spread quickly if contracted in a flock, so the area is largely under quarantine for the time being. 

 

What are the public health impacts?

For now, the risk of an avian influenza spread to humans in Georgia remains low. The GDA said that no infected animals have entered the food chain. 

Farmers, farmworkers and clean-up personnel in affected areas could be at risk if they have unprotected exposure to the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends several measures to stay safe. including wearing personal protective equipment when interacting with livestock — dead or alive — and monitoring symptoms of possible infection that could lead to hospitalization if not treated. 

While some humans have been infected through unprotected exposure to infected birds, of the 67 confirmed positive cases of bird flu in humans since 2024, over half came from direct contact with infected cows. 

There has been no detection of the avian influenza strain that infects cows in Georgia, though the state is actively testing the milk supply. 

 

What about the food supply? 

While the state Department of Agriculture is prohibiting the sale of live birds at flea markets, auctions, swaps, shows and the like at this time, dairy, egg and meat production for public consumption has not been affected. 

Private and retail sales of birds and poultry products are still permitted - that includes the importation of live birds and eggs into the state.

Federal agencies say the risk of contracting the virus from food is low. For one, the pasteurization of milk and eggs is proven to kill bird flu. But proper food preparation also plays a part, said Wendy White, a food scientist with the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership at Georgia Tech. 

“Avoid eating undercooked food and avoid raw milk because we definitely have seen some transfer via those foods,” White said. 

People could expect to see rising egg and dairy prices in the grocery store, though. 

“It definitely is a hit to the supply nationwide when you start to see these outbreaks pop up,” White said. “Georgia being such a big poultry state, we're always concerned.”

She said consumers and producers with preferences that lean toward free-range should reconsider for the time being. 

“Unfortunately, that increases the danger of those domestic flocks with avian influenza spread via wild birds,” White said. 

In Georgia, participation in food and animal safety measures like the National Poultry Improvement Program are voluntary. Under that program, there’s consistent testing of eggs and chicks for contagious and deadly diseases including avian influenza, salmonella viruses and respiratory diseases, to prevent spread through product sales.

State veterinarian Janemarie Hennebelle said there is a “high degree of participation” in that program because producers need to follow certain guidelines if they’re going to sell across state lines. They also want to invest in a healthy flock. 

“We are wholly dependent upon both our people and our animals being healthy and well in order to feed not only our families, but our communities,” Hennebelle said. “There's absolutely kind of a financial incentive.”

 

How could this affect Georgia’s poultry economy?

Both commercial poultry farms impacted by the avian flu are located in Elbert County, part of a cluster of seven counties in Northeast Georgia that produced around $2.3 billion dollars of poultry and egg products in 2023 — a third of Georgia’s total commodity value in the sector.

Poultry and egg production are the backbone of Georgia’s agricultural economy. Broilers, or chickens raised for their meat, are the state’s most valuable commodity. 

A distant second place goes to Georgia’s egg producers, which make up less than 6% of the commodity value.

 

What is the state doing to manage spread? 

At this point, testing is the state's No. 1 defense against the spread of avian influenza, Hennebelle said. 

Anyone who suspects bird flu in their flock should call the Georgia Avian Influenza Hotline at (770) 766-6850. The state Department of Agriculture says testing is free. 

“If they have any suspicion, any clinical signs that could indicate avian influenza in either their herd or their flock, we ask them to report that to us so we can investigate it in a timely manner,” Hennebelle said. 

For the past four years, viral disease specialist David Suarez has been researching how bird flu spreads from species to species, and how we can best mitigate that spread, at the U.S. National Poultry Research center in Athens. 

Suarez’s lab developed the PCR test used across the country to detect different variants of avian influenza. 

“It's fast, it’s sensitive and it's scalable,” Suarez said, meaning it can be used to test thousands of birds pretty efficiently. “That is the primary way that we control avian influenza.”

That test also updated as the virus mutates, Suarez said. 

But with this ongoing outbreak, there’s only so much that producers can control. Previously, bird flu was primarily spread laterally, from infected chickens on one farm to healthy chickens on another. Outbreaks over the past decade have been harder to control because of a shift in spread.

“It's a direct wild bird to poultry introduction,” Suarez said. 

About 11,000 wild birds have tested positive for bird flu since 2022, though it’s likely many more are carriers. That includes migratory birds like geese and ducks. 

Suarez said it is difficult, but imperative, to maintain biosecurity measures in and around poultry facilities for as long as outbreaks continue. Resources from the USDA  include guidelines around securing a perimeter, wearing different clothes when interacting with a flock and sanitizing and cleaning equipment. These rules should apply to both large and small scale poultry producers. 

Alex Turner, a veterinarian and incident coordinator with the USDA, said the virus can be extremely hard to kill once it’s been introduced. 

At the core of biosecurity measures should be a meticulous awareness of activities around chicken houses, because all it takes is one bird contracting the virus for a whole flock to get sick. 

“The virus can pass on trucks, on equipment, on feed, on feet,” Turner said. “It's having all of those steps to make sure that if I go in with birds, that there's no chance I can carry the virus in with me and contaminate my own birds.”

Generally, wild birds should be kept away from feed, bedding and litter, and species should be separated at water sources. 

There are no commercially available vaccines in the U.S. to prevent bird flu infections, according to the CDC.

Three labs in Georgia are actively testing samples and testing them for bird flu, under the umbrella of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network -- one in Tifton, one in Athens, and one in Gainesville. Tests from Georgia are also sent nationwide.

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