Georgia's 5th case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza confirmed at commercial poultry plant
Georgia agriculture officials are working to prevent the spread of a highly infectious avian flu after one of the state's chicken producers tested positive.
Officials with the Georgia Department of Agriculture said that the Gordon County producer noticed signs of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in their flock on Wednesday and contacted the Georgia Poultry Laboratory Network a day later. On Thursday evening, the GPLN confirmed the positive case of the virus.
On Friday, the agency says its Emergency Management and State Agricultural Response Teams deployed to the producer and began to "conduct depopulation, disposal, cleaning, and disinfection." All commercial poultry operations within a 6.2-mile radius have been placed under quarantine and will undergo testing for at least two weeks.
"This poses a serious threat to Georgia's #1 industry and to the thousands of Georgians whose livelihoods depend on poultry production," Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler J Harper said. "Our team is working around the clock to contain the spread and protect our flocks."
Officials say the case is the third confirmed in a commercial operation and the fifth overall detected across the state in 2025. Previous cases were confirmed in two poultry flocks in Elbert County and backyard flocks in Clayton County.
Since the start of the bird flu outbreak in 2022, around 340,000 birds have been affected in Georgia.