In an effort to lessen the burdens caused by these conditions, the Ohio Treasurer’s office will be offering an enhanced Ag-LINK application window for commercial poultry farmers in counties affected

Avian influenza, or bird flu, has once again made headlines, with Ohio’s first human case reported while being one of the country’s highly affected regions.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers the current risk of bird flu for the general public to be low. However, people with close and prolonged, unprotected contact with infected birds are at greater risk.

Prior to this latest case, 68 people in 11 states had been infected with an H5 strain of avian influenza.

The Ohio Department of Health is reporting the state’s first probable human case of bird flu. According to Ohio health officials, a male Mercer County farm worker became infected with Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) after coming in contact with “deceased commercial poultry.

The latest cases of avian flu reported by APHIS include turkeys and ducks in Indiana and layers in Ohio. Two commercial laying hen flocks in Ohio have been struck by (HPAI), including one that involved more than 3 million birds.

Avian influenza is in the same virus family as seasonal flu. Poultry has proven to be very sensitive to the virus, which results in high mortality.

Ohio’s director of ag says the state has become a national hotspot for highly pathogenic avian influenza this year. Brian Baldridge says more than 11.5 million birds have been depopulated because of the virus.

With emergencies declared for bird flu in Mercer and Darke counties, 2 NEWS is digging deeper into how the virus spreads. Avian Influenza has been detected at more than

Forty commercial poultry flocks in Mercer County, Ohio have been impacted by highly pathogenic avian influenza in 2025. The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service says the virus was recently detected in another commercial egg layer facility in Mercer County.

The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) has confirmed the first human case of bird flu (Avian Influenza) in the state for 2025. The affected individual is a farm worker from Mercer County who contracted the virus after coming into contact with deceased commercial poultry.

Ohio is a hotspot for birds with bird flu, and Hamilton County Public Health says 'We want to keep an eye on the spread.'