REDWOOD FALLS, MINN. – After a summer free of bird flu infections, a new outbreak at a turkey operation in Redwood County has the state back on alert.
A deadly bird flu has been detected in a commercial turkey flock, the Minnesota Board of Animal Health said this week.
The outbreak marks the first case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) — which can wipe out entire flocks — in the state’s poultry population since late April, the Animal Health Board said.
A spike in deaths in a commercial flock in Redwood County with around 20,000 turkey toms led to samples being sent to the Minnesota Poultry Testing Laboratory. On Monday, those samples tested positive for influenza A and the H5 strain, the Animal Health Board said.
All 20,000 toms have been destroyed to prevent infection from spreading, said Shauna Voss, assistant director of the board.
Poultry farms within 6 miles of the Redwood County operation have been placed in a quarantine zone, with their birds to be tested weekly, Voss added.
The owners of the Redwood County turkey operation will have to do a multimonth process to make sure the virus is eliminated, she added.
The outbreak is a setback in the state’s efforts to combat bird flu, which kills nearly all poultry that contract it and has been found in dairy cows.
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