Colorado Issues Disaster Declaration for Presumptive Bird Flu Outbreak

Colorado officials activated emergency procedures after a presumptive case of highly pathogenic avian influenza was identified at a large egg-laying facility in Weld County.

On January 30, 2026, Lt. Governor Dianne Primavera, serving as acting governor, issued a verbal disaster emergency declaration in response to the situation at the facility. The declaration followed reports of increased chicken deaths and preliminary test results indicating the presence of avian influenza.

The affected facility contains approximately 1.3 million chickens. The Colorado Department of Agriculture reported that testing was initiated after elevated mortality was observed among the birds, with initial results returning a presumptive positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza.

The disaster declaration activates the State Emergency Operations Plan. This enables the Office of Emergency Management to deploy state resources, use emergency procurement processes, and access disaster emergency funding to address the outbreak at the facility.

What the numbers show

• 1.3 million chickens are housed at the affected facility
• The verbal disaster declaration was issued on January 30, 2026
• Previous avian flu disaster declaration in Weld County occurred in July 2024

Governor Polis coordinated the decision to declare the disaster with Lt. Governor Primavera while he was in Washington, D.C., according to the Colorado Governor’s Office. The Colorado Department of Agriculture stated that testing of deceased chickens is ongoing following the initial mortality report.

This is not the first time Weld County has experienced an avian influenza-related emergency. In July 2024, Governor Polis verbally declared a disaster emergency at another commercial poultry facility in the same county, which also led to the activation of the State Emergency Operations Plan.

The July 2024 declaration allowed state resources to be directed toward supporting poultry operations in containing and managing avian flu outbreaks. These measures were intended to assist facilities in responding to similar incidents.

State agencies continue to monitor the current situation at the Weld County facility, and further actions may be taken as additional test results become available. The disaster declaration remains in effect as the response progresses.

* This article is based on publicly available information at the time of writing.