Bird Flu Detected in Alpacas for the First Time: USDA

Four out of the 18 alpacas on the farm tested positive for H5N1.

Chickens at a farm in a file photograph. Randall Hill/Reuters

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has been detected in alpacas for the first time, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on May 28.

The agency’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories confirmed cases of the H5N1 strain of influenza, also known as bird flu, in alpacas from a farm where infected poultry were killed in May.