The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship announced today (Tuesday) that the ban on live bird exhibitions at county fairs, the Iowa State Fair, livestock auctions, swap meets and other gatherings of birds due to the threat of avian influenza will be lifted effective Friday, Jan. 1. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, Bill Northey, said this is good news and another sign that recovery continues after the devastating health emergency faced by producers this past spring. The Department issued the order prohibiting livestock exhibitions on May 21, in the midst of the outbreak of the highly pathogenic avian influenza. The ban was in place to help minimize the spread of the disease and to protect the state’s domestic bird population. There have been no new cases of bird flu in Iowa since June and the final quarantine on production facilities was lifted Dec. 1. Iowa is now considered disease free after a total of 77 premises and 31.5 million birds, were affected.
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