Bird flu outbreak confirmed at 14th Minnesota turkey farm; 3rd to hit a Kandiyohi County farm

The Associated Press
April 11, 2015 at 5:38PM
file art to help illustrate the bird flu story..... The Food and Drug Administration called on drug companies Wednesday to help limit the use of antibiotics in farm animals, a decades-old practice that scientists say has contributed to a surge in dangerous, drug-resistant bacteria. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) ORG XMIT: MIN2015041013205657
Turkey farm. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) (Matt Rourke/The Associated Press)

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Authorities have confirmed another bird flu outbreak at a Minnesota turkey farm, raising the state's total to 14 affected farms.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Saturday that the latest case is a commercial turkey flock with 38,000 birds in Kandiyohi (kan-dee-YOH'-high) County in west-central Minnesota. It's the third confirmed outbreak in Kandiyohi, which is the top turkey producing county in the country's top turkey producing state.

State officials have quarantined the premises and the remaining birds on the farm will be killed to prevent the spread of the disease.

Officials stress there's no threat to public health or the food supply.

Minnesota turkey producers have now lost over 900,000 birds to the highly pathogenic H5N2 strain of avian influenza. The first case was confirmed in early March.

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