Colorado declares disaster emergency as presumptive bird flu outbreak hits facility with 1.3M chickens

Colorado Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera on Thursday declared a disaster emergency for a massive outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Weld County north of Denver.

The Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) told local outlet FOX31 News there was a presumptive positive test for HPAI, also known as the bird flu, at an egg laying facility in the county.

CDA officials told the outlet dead chickens are being tested at the facility, which is home to 1.3 million chickens, due to an “elevated mortality report.”

It is unclear how many birds are potentially infected.

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HPAI was first detected in the U.S. in February 2022, impacting wild birds and poultry.

Records released by the CDA show there was a rash of outbreaks in Weld County in July 2024, affecting three commercial poultry facilities housing a total of nearly 3.4 million chickens.

Though the names of the businesses are not public, one of the affected facilities reported having 1,313,800 chickens.

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It is unclear if that facility is the same facility potentially affected in the latest outbreak.

The state’s declaration activates the State Emergency Operations Plan and directs the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) to take all necessary and appropriate actions to assist the affected jurisdictions with their response, recovery and mitigation efforts. 

The action also authorizes the use of disaster emergency funds and allows the OEM to mobilize state resources, make contracts and awards using emergency procurement procedures and encumber and expend funds as determined by the director of the OEM.

At the time of the declaration, Primavera was acting as governor; Gov. Jared Polis was in Washington, D.C., attending a Colorado River negotiation meeting.

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The governor’s office said the decision was made in coordination with Polis.