The state’s top veterinarian said Thursday no outbreaks of the deadly avian flu that is striking the Midwest have been reported in Maine.

Michele Walsh said commercial farms, licensed veterinarians and laboratories that perform tests for detecting influenza are required to let the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry know of any positive results of illness in a flock.

“It’s a report-able disease in Maine,” she said.

While there are multiple strains of avian flu, Walsh said, she and other animal health experts are most closely watching for the possible spread of the so-called HPAI flu that is responsible for the planned destruction of more than five million laying hens in Iowa and the infection of commercial turkey flocks in Minnesota. The highly pathogenic strain of the virus kills readily the domestic poultry it infects, she said. That strain of the virus has apparently migrated gradually east from the Pacific Northwest, which had been affected earlier in the year, she said.

The largest commercial egg farm in Maine is in Turner, owned by Moark LLC, a subsidiary of Land O’ Lakes Inc., Walsh said.

A spokeswoman for that company said Wednesday that none of its egg farms is infected with avian flu. Rebecca Lentz said the company’s farms “have implemented several biosecurity standards. Additionally, we are closely following appropriate guidelines and the updates from government resources,” including the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

In Maine, smaller commercial farms produce eggs, chickens, turkeys and ducks. Many more backyard chicken coops throughout towns and cities in Maine “that I couldn’t even begin to quantify” don’t fall under commercial regulations, she said.

“We do ask that anybody experiencing unusual morbidity, which is sickness or illness in a flock, or an unusual (death) that they report it to the state veterinarian’s office,” she said.

Reports of residential flocks will likely arrive at her office through veterinarians or labs that test for those diseases, she said.

The state has promoted reporting through outreach efforts at poultry feed stores and on chicken fancier websites, she said.

But the state doesn’t rely only on reporting. It tests commercial flocks that are not showing symptoms of influenza through regular screenings as those flocks near the end of their production lives, Walsh said. Her department also carries out surveillance for avian flu at weekly animal auctions in Fairfield, the only such auctions in the state, she said.

“Everything to date has been negative,” she said.

[email protected]

For preventive measures and symptoms of avian flu, go to: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/birdbiosecurity/biosecurity/basicspoultry.htm.