DES MOINES, Iowa — Still reeling from the largest case of H5N2 avian influenza in the country that has struck Iowa over the last two weeks, the nation’s top egg producer was hit again – this time with 21 new probable cases.

Gov. Terry Branstad declared a state of emergency May 1 after the highly pathogenic bird virus further spread to 10 of the state’s 99 counties last week. "While the avian influenza outbreak does not pose a risk to humans, we are taking the matter very seriously and believe declaring a state of emergency is the best way to make all resources available," he said in a news conference.

"Even before the virus began in Iowa, our office was monitoring the outbreak in other states. We’ll continue our work – as we’ve been doing since the first outbreak in Buena Vista County – in hopes of stopping the virus’ aggressive spread throughout Iowa."

Branstad joined Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey and Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management (IHSEM) Director Mark Schouten to provide an update on the ongoing efforts to stop the avian influenza outbreak statewide. The proclamation is in effect until 11:59 p.m. May 31, unless Branstad ends it or extends it.

Minnesota and Wisconsin declared states of emergency last month. At press time, 21 sites spanning 10 Iowa counties have cases that are either presumed positives or confirmed positives, which include Buena Vista, Cherokee, Clay, Kossuth, Madison, O’Brien, Osceola, Pocahontas, Sac and Sioux counties.

"Iowa’s poultry farms are an important part of our state’s agriculture industry," Northey said. "This disease is having a far-reaching impact and, unfortunately, it has continued to spread. We have seen tremendous support and coordination from state, federal and local partners and this emergency declaration will allow the state to continue to respond aggressively to this disease outbreak."

The proclamation authorizes state officials to deploy all available state resources, supplies, equipment and materials deemed reasonably necessary by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) and IHSEM to track and monitor instances of confirmed highly pathogenic avian influenza throughout the state and nation.

In addition, the proclamation establishes importation restrictions and prohibitions with respect to animals suspected carrying the disease, and rapidly detects any presumptive or confirmed cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza within Iowa’s borders.

Shortly after he briefed Iowa lawmakers April 30, Northey and T.J. Myers, veterinarian and associate deputy administrator for veterinary services with the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service National Veterinary Services Laboratories at Iowa State University in Ames, held a teleconference to provide updates on the situation.

Since December, Myers said, the USDA has provided about $60 million in indemnity funds to poultry producers to compensate "at least for the value of the birds – although not for all losses." Myers said about 240 million U.S. birds have been infected in 16,000 flocks, and the USDA has so far culled about 7 million infected birds – most of which have been turkeys.

Along with depopulation, Myers told reporters the USDA is monitoring and doing surveillance around the affected premises: "We disinfect and clean infected premises, and test the area before any repopulation can ever take place."

Myers also told reporters the USDA is working with Congress "to make sure that we have sufficient funding to address the issue and provide a much-needed safety net to the poultry producers who are experiencing these economic hardships.

In the meantime, Myers said, "It’s highly unlikely that any meat from affected poultry would get into the food supply" and the risk of human infection "is low," adding, "as we see the wild waterfowl moving north and temperatures warming up on the U.S. landscape, we expect to see a decrease in the number of cases."

Twenty-two countries and the European Union have banned raw poultry products from Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Montana, North Dakota and Wisconsin. Nearly 17 million chickens and turkeys will be culled due to this outbreak.