After a warm-season reprieve, avian influenza is back in Delaware.

The Delaware Department of Agriculture announced Nov. 7 that a backyard chicken flock in Kent County tested presumptive positive for bird flu after experiencing a high death rate. The remainder of the flock is being depopulated to prevent the spread of the disease.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (also known as bird flu, H5 or HPAI) is a virus that spreads quickly through nasal and eye secretions and manure. It typically affects wild bird species, such as ducks, geese, shorebirds and raptors, but can affect numerous other animals, such as seals, cattle, cats and raccoons. It spreads easily to commercial poultry through infected equipment or the shoes and clothes of caretakers.

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