Bird flu strikes again, hitting 47,500 turkeys, 50 backyard birds in Iowa

Two more episodes of bird flu have been reported in Iowa, hitting about 47,500 turkeys at a Pocahontas County commercial operation and roughly 50 birds in a backyard flock in Guthrie County, the Iowa Department of Agriculture said Monday.

The central and northwest Iowa infections follow a report Friday of an occurrence of highly pathogenic avian influenza among 50,000 turkeys in Buena Vista County. Birds in infected flocks are destroyed to prevent further spread of the illness.

After seven months without an infection in Iowa, the fall migration of wild birds is apparently spreading the disease anew. The birds, in particular waterfowl, can infect domestic flocks often without showing symptoms of illness themselves.

Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a disaster proclamation for Buena Vista County to help state and federal agencies respond to the outbreak. The proclamation, routine for areas with bird flu cases, allows government agencies to assist with “tracking and monitoring, rapid detection, containment, disposal and disinfection.”

This outbreak has lasted about a year and resulted in about 59.4 million birds nationally being destroyed, including about 16 million in Iowa, the hardest-hit state, U.S. Department of Agriculture data shows. Since the outbreak began in Iowa on March 1, 2022, 35 commercial and backyard flocks have been infected, USDA and state data show.

Iowa is the nation’s largest egg producer, with 59.4 million laying hens, and the seventh-largest turkey producer, with about 12 million birds, USDA data show.

State and federal officials require the area around an infected facility to be quarantined and any poultry there tested.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the recent infections in birds do not present a public health concern, and it remains safe to eat poultry products.