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Two counties account for 98% of Wisconsin bird flu losses between since 2024

Because Wisconsin sits along the Mississippi Flyway, one of North America's busiest migration corridors, more than 11 million birds can be passing through the state during the spring and fall migrations, creating ongoing opportunities for avian influenza viruses to infiltrate both commercial and backyard poultry flocks.

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection [DATCP] announced Sept. 14 that a commercial meat turkey facility in Rice Lake tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu. The flock of 79,088 birds has already been depopulated to prevent further spread of the disease.

Although backyard flocks accounted for nearly half of the outbreaks since 2024, they represented less than 0.5% of the total birds lost. A handful of massive commercial poultry outbreaks have driven Wisconsin's bird flu losses above 8 million birds during that time, with Jefferson County emerging as the state's hardest-hit area.

Data from DATCP show 14 bird flu outbreaks affecting approximately 8.1 million birds between Jan. 1, 2024, and Sept. 14, 2026. While outbreaks have been reported in 10 counties during that period, nearly all losses were concentrated in a few large commercial operations.

Jefferson County accounted for the overwhelming majority of affected birds, recording four commercial outbreaks that impacted more than 6.4 million birds. The county's largest outbreak, reported Sept. 24, 2025, affected more than 3 million birds. Additional outbreaks affecting 493,298 birds in 2025 and more than 2.8 million birds in early 2026 pushed Jefferson County's total to nearly 80% of all birds affected statewide during the three-year period.

Walworth County ranks second, with a single outbreak in March 2026 affecting nearly 1.5 million birds. Together, Jefferson and Walworth counties account for roughly 98% of all birds affected in Wisconsin since the beginning of 2024.

Santa Teresa Livestock Port Set to Reopen Sept. 24

The Santa Teresa Livestock Port of Entry is scheduled to reopen Thursday, Sept. 24, following stringent containment protocols against the New World screwworm (NWS).

The reopening restores operations at the southern border’s highest-volume cattle crossing, which historically inspects 43% of all Mexican cattle imported into the U.S. Following more than a year of heightened biosecurity and strict containment of NWS, federal and New Mexico state officials are finalizing on-the-ground infrastructure to ensure cattle flow safely to the U.S.

“Livestock ports of entry on our southern border have played a very historic and critical role in the American cattle trade for more than 120 years,” says U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins during a press briefing in New Mexico following a roundtable with local livestock producers. “Imports from Mexico make their way to U.S. feedlots. In fact, most of the cattle who cross at this port make their way to Texas feedlots, eventually ending up on dinner tables across America.”

Strict Traceability and EID Infrastructure

A key focal point ahead of the Sept. 24 reopening is electronic identification (EID) traceability to satisfy the import requirements of receiving states across the country.

“The main thing is we’re trying to make sure that the American side of the port is up to speed on collecting the electronic IDs, so that we can meet the requirements of the receiving states,” explains New Mexico State Veterinarian Dr. Samantha Holeck. “With the acceptance of electronic ID as the official ID, that gives us a huge advantage on traceability of these cattle that we haven’t had in the past. That level of traceability is something that has never really been requested in the past to this degree, and so we’re working pretty intensively to get that infrastructure in place.”

Evaluating the Pathways and Probabilities of U.S. Swine Disease Eradication

In 1999, veterinarian Dr. Tim Loula reflected on pseudorabies eradication during the Allen D. Leman Swine Conference. He shared five valuable lessons for the next eradication effort.

1. Move faster once tools are proven effective.
2. Identify every herd in a geographic area, no exceptions.
3. Enforce rules consistently across state lines.
4. Fund emergency indemnity so producers can act fast.
5. Track every transmission route: pigs, people, wildlife, trucks and rendering.

Loula’s own “wish list” for the next eradication targets named porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSv) specifically, shared Dr. Joe Connor at the 2026 Allen D. Leman Swine Conference. Loula called out PRRSv as the most expensive and difficult-to-combat disease to ever hit the U.S. swine industry.

Few would argue that 27 years later.

As state and national health improvement initiatives enter into the early stages of implementation, experts say it’s imperative to define the processes and quantify the probability of success for each of the pathogens under consideration. From Minnesota Pork’s Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (Mhp) elimination initiative to the National Swine Health Strategy’s goal to eliminate PRRS and porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), what does the industry need to do to move these initiatives forward?

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• DATCP: In Wisconsin, Dairy Never Sleeps
• Beyond Fewer Cows: How Consumer Demand Is Holding Beef Prices Up

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WLIC | Toll-Free: 88Like8-808-1910 | Fax: 608-848-4702 | jlegge@wiid.org | www.wiid.org