The Quarantine on 72 Iowa poultry operations has been lifted following the avian influenza outbreak that hit this spring. Iowa Poultry and Egg Association Executive Director Randy Olson says some operations had started restocking a few weeks ago and most now will follow with that. He says it’s a long recovery process however.
Olson says he and other poultry operators are keeping a close eye on the wild bird migration to see if there’s any signs of another possible HPAI outbreak.
He says federal and state officials have been very supportive in helping poultry producers recover from the disease. Olson says one discussion they’re having is about indemnity payments going forward.
Olson says poultry operators went through a thorough process to be able to restock their flocks. He says once they were depopulated there was cleansing and disinfecting of the barns followed by taking of environmental samples to show the disease was gone. Then the operation sat fallow for a time prior to restocking.