In Minnesota, presumptive positive test results for avian influenza (AI) came back Tuesday from six turkey farms after 10 days without a new case, according to the Associated Press.
In Iowa, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship said it’s responding to a probable case of bird flu at a commercial laying operation in Wright County in northern Iowa, according to the agency’s website. The operation’s estimated 1 million birds will be euthanized if the case is confirmed.
The new detections in Minnesota, announced by the Minnesota Board of Animal Health, included the first case in Brown County on a farm with 46,800 turkeys. They also included three new cases at turkey farms in Kandiyohi County and two in Renville County.
The bird flu has now affected 94 farms in 22 counties in Minnesota. Thirty-six of those cases were reported in Kandiyohi, the top turkey-producing county in the nation’s No. 1 turkey-producing state, according to AP.
While Minnesota has had the most farms affected, bird losses have been far greater in Iowa, according to US Department of Agriculture data, where more than 27 million birds have been affected by bird flu. In Minnesota, AI has cost Minnesota turkey and chicken producers approximately 7.7 million birds, not including losses attributed to the latest cases.
Nationally, nearly 42 million chickens, turkeys, ducks and other poultry have contracted AI.
