San Andreas, CA…The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) have detected a case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in a backyard flock in Calaveras County, California. As of today, HPAI had previously been confirmed in domesticated flocks in the following counties: Butte, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Fresno, Sacramento, and Tuolumne. To protect other California flocks, the infected locations are quarantined and the birds are euthanized to prevent further disease spread.

In addition to domestic flocks, HPAI was previously detected in wild birds in the following nineteen counties: Alameda, Butte, Colusa, Fresno, Glenn, Mendocino, Napa, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Trinity, and Yolo. The viral spread is promoted by wild birds, especially in wild waterfowl such as ducks and geese, but many other wild bird species can also be a source of spread. Poultry owners can protect their flocks by increasing their biosecurity practices.

Avian influenza is a highly contagious and often fatal disease in birds. The disease is spread through movement of infected or exposed birds, direct or indirect contact with infected wild and domestic birds or contact with virus on fomites (surfaces) such as hands, shoes, clothing, or feet and fur of rodents and other animals.

Clinical signs of HPAI include sudden death, trouble breathing, clear runny discharge (from nose, mouth, and eyes), lethargy, decreased food and water intake, swelling (eyes, head, wattles, or combs), discolored or bruised comb, wattles, or legs, stumbling/falling or twisted neck. For more information and updates, please visit our CDFA Avian Health Program webpage. Poultry owners with flocks that have experienced any unusual/suspicious illness or deaths should call our CDFA Sick Bird Hotline at 866-922-BIRD (2473).

Please report any unusual or suspicious dead wild birds to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife online at www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Laboratories/Wildlife-Health/Monitoring/Mortality-Report. If you have questions about wildlife rehabilitation, please contact California Department of Fish and Wildlife directly. Contact information is available here: Wildlife Health Lab – Avian Investigations (ca.gov)

For public inquiries regarding highly pathogenic avian influenza in California, please call: 916-217-7517 or send an e-mail to cdfa.HPAIinfo@cdfa.ca.gov. For media inquiries, please call 916-654-0462 or send an e-mail to: OfficeOfPublicAffairs@cdfa.ca.gov.
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