SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture says it has confirmed avian influenza in a commercial turkey flock in eastern South Dakota’s Beadle County.
The U.S. in recent months has seen an increase in cases of the highly pathogenic H5N2 strain of avian influenza, also known as bird flu, affecting poultry in multiple states including Minnesota.
USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service says the South Dakota flock of 53,000 turkeys is within the Central Flyway bird migration route, where the strain of bird flu has previously been found.
The South Dakota flock has been quarantined, and the birds will be killed to prevent the spread of the disease. The state Health Department also is involved.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers the risk to people to be low.