The Nebraska Department of Agriculture in conjunction with the United States Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services and USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service have confirmed the presence of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza n a wild goose near Holmes Lake in Lincoln.

“While Nebraska has not seen HPAI in a backyard or commercial poultry flock within the state this year, the finding of this single goose adds Nebraska to a long list of states with confirmed cases of HPAI,” said State Veterinarian Dr. Roger Dudley. “Infected wild birds can carry the disease to new areas when migrating,so we encourage backyard poultry and commercial poultry flocks to continue to remain vigilant, practice good biosecurity and report sick or dying birds immediately.”

While this case was detected in the Lincoln, NE area in the eastern part of the state, Nebraska is technically considered part of the Central Flyway of North American Bird Migration. This is the first case in the Central Flyway, with all previous cases detected in either the Atlantic or Mississippi Flyways.