Emergency preparedness and response to Highly Pathogenic Avian Flu
“We weathered the first storm, but we’re not out of this yet.
– Darrin Karcher, Purdue Extension poultry specialist
After Indiana’s outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in January 2025, Adams County Purdue Extension educator Brad Kohlhagen began receiving almost daily telephone calls, especially from one local concerned poultry producer.
“Mice and rats can spread the disease, so he was setting out traps and putting bird deflectors around his poultry barn. He was trying to do everything possible, and I was giving him advice,” Kohlhagen says. “His barn never got infected.”
In November 2024, the costs associated with the national HPAI outbreak had exceeded $1.4 billion, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. More than 8.5 million poultry birds were affected in Indiana between February 2022 and March 2025.
Kohlhagen was among the many Purdue Extension educators statewide who served as trusted sources of information during the HPAI outbreak. He and LaGrange County Extension educator Jeff Burbrink found themselves in outbreak epicenters. The Indiana Board of Animal Health (BOAH) registered 14,560 avian premises in January 2025, with the largest concentrations appearing in Elkhart, LaGrange, Jay and Adams counties.
Questions poured in about the prospects of a bird flu vaccine, insurance coverage for the poultry industry, what types of manure could be spread in a surveillance zone, how to dispose of contaminated poultry manure, and concerns among conscientious producers about their public image if their flocks became infected despite taking all precautions.
Most of the inquiries that Kohlhagen and Burbrink fielded came from the general public, hobby flock owners and journalists. State agencies such as BOAH helped farmers combat the outbreak. Extension supported those agencies’ efforts as a trusted local contact.
“I saw our role as helping them do their job, because they’re the professionals when it comes to animal disease,” Burbrink says. His support included passing along information via a weekly newspaper column. Started 40-plus years ago, the column appears in 26 outlets.
Burbrink was the Elkhart County Extension educator in 2022, when the county experienced one of Indiana’s largest bird flu outbreaks. At that time, the Elkhart County Extension Office loaned space to the BOAH staffers working locally.
“Every morning, when they were getting ready to pull blood samples and send them to the lab at Purdue, they’d meet right outside my office window,” Burbrink says. “I’d go out there with a pitcher of coffee and cups, and I’d learn about what was going on.”
In 2025, Burbrink widely shared his experience with Extension educators, like Kohlhagen, who were facing bird flu and its fallout for the first time.
In Adams County, Kohlhagen hosted five winter meetings last year on a variety of topics, with avian flu and the latest information from the BOAH becoming a recurring topic. Livestock producers and crop farmers alike dreaded the economic losses stemming from bird flu — for example, a depressed grain market linked to a decreased need for poultry feed.
“In these winter meetings, everyone felt like they were in this together,” he says.
Purdue Extension also worked more broadly, promoting two webinars in February 2025 to increase HPAI vigilance. Extension poultry specialist Darrin Karcher presented one webinar on what hobby poultry flock owners need to know about HPAI. Three experts from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and the Indiana Department of Health presented the other webinar about wild birds and HPAI. The two webinars combined attracted 198 attendees, and the meetings’ YouTube videos tallied 390 views.
Karcher and his Purdue Extension animal sciences colleagues also developed and distributed one-page fact sheets on HPAI for poultry, swine and beef. The target audiences were small-flock owners and Extension agents in all 92 Indiana counties. The fact sheets highlighted the importance of following proper biosecurity practices and provided insights into the effect of the outbreak on Indiana’s economy and egg prices.
The HPAI outbreak in Indiana subsided in April 2025, but the need remains for Extension to stand ready for whatever happens moving forward.
We weathered the first storm, but we’re not out of this yet."
- Darrin Karcher, Purdue Extension poultry specialist
Program Impact
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Reached residents statewide and across the nation as a trusted resource on the latest HPAI information in local regional and national outlets.
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Addressed concerns from members of the public, assuring them that it was safe to eat eggs and meat.
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Provided biosecurity protocol advice to hobby flock owners.
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Hosted two webinars with a combined total of 198 attendees and 390 views on YouTube.
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