2026 has been an uncharacteristically quiet year for Iowa concerning highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).
And while Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig is pleased with that situation, it isn't one he is taking for granted.
Naig addressed HPAI, as well as a number of other animal agriculture issues, during a June 3 press conference at World Pork Expo in Des Moines.
No commercial poultry flocks have been struck by HPAI so far in 2026, with the state's last instance confirmed on December 3, 2025, in a commercial turkey flock in Hamilton County. Six backyard flocks, however, have been affected by the virus, but those situations should not affect international poultry trade, per World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) rules.
This absence is a significant contrast to years past during the current U.S. outbreak that began in 2022. According to information provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Iowa had 17 commercial flocks and 15.9 million birds hit by HPAI in 2022, six flocks and 2.9 million birds hit in 2023, 10 flocks and 11.1 million birds affected in 2024, and six flocks and 758,800 birds affected in 2025.
Still, Naig said the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS), which he oversees, is focused on HPAI in commercial poultry flocks.
"I will say we're always on heightened alert, if you will, during the spring and the fall because of migratory birds passing through. Thankfully, it was a quiet spring (in Iowa) when it came to that," he said.
But Naig added that other states have not been as fortunate in 2026. "So, it's a reminder that there's a constant threat. What we've actually learned is that while spring and fall tend to be (times) with higher risk of incidence, we can see cases throughout the year, so it really is a reminder to our producers to maintain heightened biosecurity," Naig said.
Naig is confident that such heightened biosecurity has been followed.
"The fact that we've had success in keeping it out of commercial flocks is a good indicator that biosecurity is in fact increasing and significant investments are being made. It's been a quiet year. We want to keep it that way, but we also maintain a state of readiness."
When Naig spoke at World Pork Expo in 2024, Iowa had just experienced HPAI infections in commercial laying hen flocks and commercial turkey flocks. It was also dealing with the same virus in a commercial dairy cattle herd. Now, Naig said it's been "many, many months" since an Iowa dairy herd had been affected by the H5N1 virus.
Response to HPAI helped prepare state for pseudorabies
A common topic of conversation at the 2026 World Pork Expo was a recent case of pseudorabies in a single pig herd in Iowa — a first in the state since 2004.
But animal health agencies and the industry acted quickly and appropriately, preventing it from spreading to any other herds.
Naig said the protocols used in trying to prevent the spread of HPAI were also used in the pseudorabies situation, which he believes helped prevent the spread of the pig disease.
No news on Pure Prairie Poultry plant
Another poultry-related topic to come up during Naig's press conference was the former Pure Prairie Poultry plant in Charles City, Iowa. The company went bankrupt and the plant closed in 2024.
The facility has reportedly been purchased by California-based Pitman Family Farms, with Charles City Mayor Dean Andrews telling KCHA he learned of the transaction because the company contacted the city offices to have the plant's utility account put in its name.
Naig was asked if IDALS had been in contact with Pitman Family Farms, which also recently purchased two Cargill turkey plants — one in Missouri and the other in Virginia.
He responded: "We're not directly aware of any of what's happening there. I hear and read things as well, but I really can't comment related to that transaction."
