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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchSouth Dakota farms depopulated 419,650 turkeys after recent highly pathogenic avian-influenza (HPAI) detections, according to USDA data reported on September 20, 2025. The response covered eight commercial flocks and one backyard flock identified during the preceding 30 days. The figure counts turkeys removed as a disease-control measure at affected premises—not people, not every bird species in the state, and not necessarily birds that died from the virus.
What the 419,650-turkey figure means
The number is a response total: birds were depopulated at farms with recent HPAI detections to limit further transmission. It is not a statewide death count and does not represent all poultry or wild birds affected in South Dakota. A September 24, 2025 summary from the University of Nebraska Medical Center likewise described more than 400,000 South Dakota turkeys killed during the preceding month.
Flocks included in the count
| Measure | What was reported |
|---|---|
| Turkeys depopulated | 419,650 |
| South Dakota detections in the preceding 30 days | Eight commercial flocks and one backyard flock |
| What the total does not establish | A statewide count of every affected bird species or a count of birds that died naturally |
How depopulation is carried out
South Dakota State Veterinarian Beth Thompson told the South Dakota Searchlight that “foaming” is the most common method in turkey barns. Depopulation is an emergency control action used after a flock is confirmed or considered affected; the method and operational details can vary by facility and response circumstances.
Why blue-winged teal and other ducks matter
Thompson identified the migratory blue-winged teal as a carrier of that season’s virus. Migratory waterfowl can move HPAI between regions, so their presence near poultry operations is an important exposure consideration. Calling teal a carrier does not mean every teal is infected or that a particular duck can be proven to have caused a specific farm’s outbreak.
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What USDA found about introductions
In its epidemiologic report covering July 1 through September 30, 2025, USDA said 70 of 73 South Dakota reintroductions since the beginning of the 2022 HPAI event—95.9%—were associated with independent wild-bird introductions. The same report identifies proximity to waterfowl habitat as an important risk consideration for South Dakota turkey operations.
What the investigation did not find
USDA reported no epidemiologic links among the repeatedly affected premises and said human-mediated lateral spread was not suspected in its investigation. That distinction matters: wild-bird introductions were the dominant documented association, but the finding is not proof that every flock was infected by a blue-winged teal or another single species.
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How South Dakota fits the wider HPAI outbreak
The 2025 turkey losses occurred within a national event that began in February 2022. USDA’s fiscal-year 2025 fourth-quarter epidemiologic report recorded 1,740 confirmed detections and more than 179 million birds affected across the event through September 2025.
| Reporting scope | Reported figures |
|---|---|
| July–September 2025 | 33 detections in 13 states and Puerto Rico; approximately 5 million birds affected across those detections |
| South Dakota, July–September 2025 | 11 of the 33 confirmed detections |
| Entire event, February 2022–September 2025 | 1,740 confirmed detections; more than 179 million birds affected |
South Dakota has faced avian influenza before this event. South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks records the state’s first confirmed case in 2015 at a commercial turkey farm in Beadle County. The agency also records March 2022 detections at two commercial turkey farms in Charles Mix County and in snow geese and Canada geese.
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Is South Dakota’s bird flu dangerous to people?
The South Dakota Department of Health describes the general-public risk as low on its H5N1 information page. That page says an H5N1 strain detected in the United States in 2022 has spread among wild birds, with sporadic outbreaks in domestic poultry and dairy cattle. It reports 66 confirmed human H5N1 infections in 2024 and says human-to-human transmission had not been identified on the reviewed page.
Who should take extra precautions
Risk is concentrated around direct contact with infected or potentially infected animals, carcasses, feces, secretions and contaminated equipment. People who work with poultry, wildlife or livestock should follow their employer’s or public-health agency’s protective guidance rather than relying on the low general-public risk assessment.
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Public-health precautions
- Avoid sick or dead animals and do not handle them with bare hands.
- Avoid unpasteurized milk and raw cheese.
- If contact cannot be avoided, use appropriate personal protective equipment.
- Wash hands and clean clothing, tools and surfaces after possible exposure.
What to do around wild birds and game
South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks advises people not to handle or eat sick game. Its guidance also recommends keeping wild-bird carcasses away from domestic poultry, wearing disposable or rubber gloves, cleaning knives and other equipment, and disinfecting contaminated surfaces.
Cooking temperature
Game should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165°F. Safe cooking does not make handling a visibly sick animal advisable; avoidance and protective equipment remain the first safeguards.
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How to read the headline accurately
- “Killed” means depopulated: the 419,650 turkeys were removed under a disease-response operation at affected farms.
- “Ducks identified as carriers” is a source attribution: the state veterinarian identified blue-winged teal in connection with that season’s virus, while USDA’s broader analysis concerns independent wild-bird introductions and habitat exposure.
- The figure is not statewide bird mortality: it excludes any birds outside the reported response total and is unrelated to human deaths.
- The event was part of a larger outbreak: USDA’s national totals cover confirmed detections and affected birds across the HPAI event from 2022 through September 2025.
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