Bird flu detected in western Iowa backyard flock

By DAVID PITT
Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Federal officials say bird flu has been detected in a backyard flock of chickens and ducks in western Iowa. It’s an especially troubling development for a state that is home to the nation’s largest number of egg-laying hens. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says it confirmed highly pathogenic avian influenza in the flock in Pottawattamie County. State officials have quarantined the affected location and the birds were killed to prevent the spread of the disease. Cases have been discovered in noncommercial flocks and farms across the nation in the past month. The first infection was identified at a turkey farm in Indiana on Feb. 9. In a 2015 outbreak, egg farmers in Iowa had to kill 33 million hens.