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Avian Influenza
 Avian Influenza is a virus that can cause a varying
amount of disease among birds. Avian Influenza viruses can infect
quail, chickens, geese, turkeys, ducks,
and pheasants as well as a variety of other birds. The virus strains can be either low pathogenic or high pathogenic based on the severity of the illness they cause in poultry.
The department's Division of Animal Industry has provided surveillance for Avian Influenza on commercial poultry populations for more than 20 years. Current efforts include surveillance testing of commercial poultry from collected blood samples.
There have been no outbreaks of high-pathogenic strains of Avian Influenza, the strains more harmful to humans, reported in Ohio. To date, there have been no incidents of transmission to humans reported in the U.S. While it is unlikely an outbreak similar to that in Asia could occur here, the U.S. has significant procedures in place for managing such an outbreak, including destruction and disposal of infected birds.
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