State officials say the risk for avian influenza is still high in Maine.

The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry is urging backyard flock and commercial operators to prevent contact between their flocks and wild birds. They say the USDA has confirmed the presence of avian influenza in seventeen non-commercial backyard flocks in Maine since February 2022. They say four flocks, two in Hancock County and one each in Kennebec and Washington Counties, are under quarantine.

No cases of this strain of avian influenza have been detected in humans in the United States. The U.S. CDC says recent detections of this strain of influenza in birds in Maine and other states present a low risk to the public.