US bird flu case puts chicken, turkey farms on high alert

By DAVID PITT
Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Farms that raise turkeys and chickens for meat and eggs are on high alert, fearing a repeat of a widespread bird flu outbreak in 2015 that killed 50 million birds across 15 states and cost the federal government nearly $1 billion. Indiana officials said Tuesday a second flock of 26,473 turkeys near the first infected farm is suspected to have the same virus. The USDA also confirmed  the presence of bird flu in a flock of commercial broiler chickens in Fulton County, Kentucky, and are awaiting results of a potential second case about 124 miles northeast in Webster County, Ketucky. A backyard flock of mixed species birds in northern Virginia also is positive for the virus.