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ANNAPOLIS, MD\u00a0 (February 14, 2026)\u2014 <\/b>\u00a0The <\/span>Maryland Department of Agriculture<\/b> has announced a presumptive positive case of H5 Avian Influenza in a commercial broiler farm in Wicomico County. This is the first case of highly pathogenic H5 Avian Influenza (HPAI) on a commercial poultry farm in Wicomico County this year and the second case in Maryland in 2026. State officials have quarantined all affected premises, and birds on the property are being or have been depopulated to prevent the spread of the disease. Birds from the affected flock will not enter the food system.<\/span><\/p>\n Confirmation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s (USDA) National Veterinary Services Laboratory is pending, with final results anticipated in the coming days.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Avian Influenza is a highly contagious airborne respiratory virus that spreads easily among birds through nasal and eye secretions, as well as manure. The virus can be spread in various ways from flock to flock, including by wild birds, through contact with infected poultry, by equipment, and on the clothing and shoes of caretakers. This virus affects poultry, like chickens, ducks, and turkeys, along with some wild bird species, such as ducks, geese, shorebirds, and raptors.<\/span><\/p>\n According to the Maryland Department of Health, the risk of transmission between birds and the general public is low. Those who work directly with poultry or dairy farms may be more at risk and should follow key biosecurity practices.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Maryland Department of Agriculture continues to urge growers and backyard flock owners to implement enhanced biosecurity practices and become familiar with what to do if HPAI is suspected in a flock. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shares more <\/span>guidance here<\/span>.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Key biosecurity practices:\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For more information on High Path Avian Influenza in Maryland, please visit: <\/span>https:\/\/mda.maryland.gov\/Pages\/AvianFlu.aspx<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n ###<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Preliminary Testing Confirms Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza\u00a0 in Wicomico County ANNAPOLIS, MD\u00a0 (February 14, 2026)\u2014 \u00a0The Maryland Department of Agriculture has announced a presumptive positive case of H5 Avian Influenza in a commercial broiler farm in Wicomico County. This is the first case of highly pathogenic H5 Avian Influenza (HPAI) on a commercial poultry Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":251,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[911,403,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bird-flu","category-mda-newsroom","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/251"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29593"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29593\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29594,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29593\/revisions\/29594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\n<\/span>Visitors should wear protective outer garments or disposable coveralls, boots, and headgear when handling birds, and shower and\/or change clothes when leaving the facility.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n