WELD COUNTY, Colo. — Egg producers in parts of Weld County will have to stop the movement of their chickens and their eggs until further notice after state agriculture officials confirmed an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in a flock late last month.
The new outbreak, which comes after a relatively quiet year for the H5N1 virus in Colorado, is the first at a commercial egg-laying facility in the county since the summer of 2024 and the fourth across the state so far this year, according to the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA).
State agriculture officials told Denver7 they were first notified of a potential outbreak of the highly pathogenic virus on Wednesday of last week, after poultry were found dead at the commercial egg-laying facility where 1.33 million chickens are housed.
Samples from that facility were then sent to CSU’s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory on Thursday where they tested “presumptive positive,” and were confirmed a day later by USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL), according to CDA spokeswoman Olga Robak.
The confirmation — at least at the state level — prompted Lt. Governor Dianne Primavera to issue a verbal disaster declaration Thursday night while Gov. Polis was in Washington to negotiation Colorado River rights with other state and federal officials.
The disaster declaration frees up emergency funding so the CDA, in partnership with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), can “continue to properly coordinate for mitigation of disease spread, response, consequence management, and recovery efforts.”
“We urge all flock owners to remain highly vigilant, monitor their birds closely for any signs of illness, and, most critically, to immediately reinforce and practice strict biosecurity measures to protect their flocks,” said Dr. Maggie Baldwin, the Colorado State Veterinarian, who added this latest detection is “a reminder that the virus is actively circulating in our state.”
The outbreaks at egg-laying facilities don’t just affect chickens and egg producers.
In 2024, when the virus was spreading rapidly through commercial flocks, 9 Colorado poultry workers were sickened with bird flu in a span of two weeks, though none were hospitalized. In all, 10 workers in the state have tested positive for the virus since May of 2024.
For a brief period that year, Colorado lead the nation in both the number of outbreaks among dairy cattle after the virus crossed over into dairy farms, as well as the number of people infected with H5N1, effectively becoming the epicenter of the outbreak. The state of California has since taken on the mantle.
Anyone who owns poultry or are within the quarantine area is asked to contact CDA to report any poultry they may have by clicking here, by calling (303) 869-9130 or emailing animalhealth@state.co.us.
Since it was first detected in the state in March of 2022, avian influenza has killed more than 11 million chickens in Colorado, according to the CDA.
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