Bird flu infects flock of 380,000 commercial egg-laying hens in Kansas

 

Headline:  WATT Poultry, 1/8/2026

Roy Graber reports:

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has again struck in Kansas, this time affecting a commercial table egg layer pullet flock. 

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) reported that the presence of HPAI was confirmed on January 6 in pullets in Pottawatomie County. There were 380,000 birds in the flock. 

This flock infection comes four days after two commercial upland gamebird flocks in the state were hit by HPAI. Those gamebird flocks were in Anderson and Nemaha counties. Another gamebird flock in Jewell County was hit by the virus on December 29, 2025. That was the first instance of HPAI in a commercial operation in approximately a year.

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