Ohio officials report major HPAI outbreak in west-central counties; call for federal aid and lab support

Ohio Department of Agriculture Director Brian Baldridge and Jim Chiquiris, executive vice president of the Ohio Poultry Association, told the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee at a hearing that a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak has affected roughly 74 premises in west‑central Ohio and has required depopulation of more than 15 million birds since Christmas Eve 2024.

The committee was told the outbreak has concentrated in Darke and Mercer counties, has driven a major surge in diagnostic testing, and is prompting industry and state officials to seek increased federal indemnity payments, expanded lab capacity, and consideration of vaccine strategies. Both speakers emphasized biosecurity and the human health protections that come from preventing disease in animals.

“The first line of animal defense when it comes to diseases” is the state’s animal disease diagnostic lab, Baldridge said, describing a testing surge: in the last 60 days the lab ran more than 11,600 HPAI‑related tests, a 244% increase over a normal period. Baldridge told the committee the department has worked with USDA, the Ohio Poultry Association and other state agencies and that the Ohio Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (ADDL) is accredited and operates daily during the emergency. He said a new, fully funded diagnostic lab is planned to open in 2026 and that the existing, 40‑year‑old facility currently…