With initial tests indicate positive cases of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in commercial poultry in five Pennsylvania counties. Several commercial poultry farms in Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon, and Lehigh Counties are presumed to be HPAI positive based on the presence of the virus in initial samples, and rapid deaths among birds.
On January 27, 2025, the department of Agriculture announced Pennsylvania’s first confirmed case in domestic poultry in 2025, in a 50,000-bird flock on a commercial poultry farm In Lehigh County. Birds tested in a PA Animal Diagnostic Laboratory System (PADLS) lab had a high level of the H5N1 virus strain that has caused the loss of 22.75 million birds nationwide in the past 30 days, and 153.66 million birds since the start of the outbreak in February 2022. Test results were subsequently confirmed in a USDA veterinary diagnostic lab.
The department, together with the USDA, is leading a state and federal interagency task force carrying out a comprehensive response on these farms to help keep the virus from spreading further. Each presumed positive farm is quarantined. All commercial poultry facilities within a 10-kilometer radius of infected flocks are subject to testing requirements and restrictions on moving poultry products. Dairy farms within a 3km radius are also subject to testing requirements and restrictions on transporting products.
“Pennsylvania continues to take swift, aggressive action to protect our farmers and our dairy and poultry industries from avian influenza,” Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said.
While there is no risk to the general public, and poultry products and eggs are safe to eat if cooked properly, HPAI is highly infectious and generally fatal in domestic birds.
No infections in dairy cattle or humans have been detected in Pennsylvania to date. The virus has infected dairy cattle in states further west, but cattle are not sickened to the degree that birds are. Milk that has been pasteurized is safe to drink.
