In the past 30 days, two states have detected the bird flu in commercial flocks: Arizona and South Dakota.
Though Arizona is dealing with much higher numbers, officials in South Dakota say they’re keeping a close eye on the situation at home.
According to the USDA, in 2025 nearly 700,000 birds in South Dakota have been affected by highly pathogenic avian influenza, more commonly known as bird flu.
Over 630,000 of those came from a commercial table egg layer in Aurora County, South Dakota at the end of April. Officials say due to the high bird count in such facilities, it’s more common to see a higher number of birds affected than other productions in the state.
Most recently, a Commercial Turkey Meat Bird Production farm in Hutchinson County lost over 30,000 birds. State Veterinarian Beth Thompson said she’s monitoring the situation closely.
"It continues to be a high-level of concern both for our poultry industries, backyard growers and any of the state regulatory folks, federal regulatory folks. The fact remains that this virus has embedded itself in our migratory, the wild bird, population and possibly other populations too. In the spring and in the fall, that’s when we really pay attention to it,” Thompson said. “But as we’ve seen over the past couple of years, it’s not uncommon to have additional outbreaks in the summer and winter too.”
She said it’s important for farmers to have good biosecurity to help mitigate some of the effects. This can look like not allowing visitors into barns, wearing boots and proper clothing inside and carefully monitoring feed trucks that are going to farms.
Thompson said they are also looking ahead for solutions.
“A vaccine. We know that our trade agreements, international trade agreements, would be affected if the United States were all of a sudden to allow vaccination, but it is an important tool," Thompson said. "And we do know that vaccines can help, especially in cases when you have diseases like this. So, we are looking forward and ongoing discussions with the federal government, USDA, veterinary services, and the industry about that possibility."
She said the virus is not going away “anytime soon”. However, Thompson said while bird flu is continuing to show up in more cattle herds across the country, it's been a while since a new case has been confirmed in South Dakota cattle.
She said the virus has not been detected in cattle here since last June. However, states west of us, California, Idaho and Arizona, are still seeing cases.
“This is concerning. This is something that we probably didn’t realize could happen as quickly and as far and wide as it did, and that being the virus getting into dairy cattle," Thompson said. "But we continue to watch that very closely."
Thompson added that there is a different level of harm between species with the virus.
“The birds die. In dairy that’s not the case. The cows will stop milking for a period of time, but there’s very little increased mortality when we see the virus in dairy," Thompson said. "So, a little bit different situation between livestock and poultry. But still, very concerning that we have this virus in multiple species in the United States."
She said the USDA has some programs in place for cattle with the virus, and most states are testing milk silos for its presence to help control the issue.
