Georgia Lifts Bird Flu Control Zone in Gordon County
Georgia poultry farmers are getting some welcome news this week. State Agriculture Commissioner Tyler J. Harper says the Georgia Department of Agriculture has officially lifted the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza control area in Gordon County.
The decision follows the completion of all required testing and response protocols with no additional detections.
Harper says, “While this announcement is a great step in the right direction, HPAI remains a significant threat to our number one industry, and we will continue to work with poultry producers to protect our state’s flocks and to keep prices as low as possible for Georgia consumers.”
The Gordon 01 site first came under scrutiny on October 23 when a “non-negative” test from the Georgia Poultry Lab Network was confirmed by the USDA the next day. State crews activated their emergency operations center immediately and deployed to contain the virus, depopulate the flock, and secure the premises.
Within the ten kilometer control zone, nearly 1,800 tests were conducted on over ten thousand birds across 50 commercial poultry farms. All came back negative.
