ST. PAUL, Minn. – The State Animal Health Board has identified two poultry flocks with highly contagious avian flu and ordered them destroyed. These were the first cases in Minnesota since 2015 when the state’s poultry industry lost millions of chickens and turkeys. The Animal Health Board offered only sparse details of the new outbreaks.
> Meeker County. Nearly 300,000 turkeys at a factory-scale farm. The facility was not identified. The county seat of Mower County is Litchfield in central Minnesota.
> Mower County. A backyard flock of chickens, ducks and geese, 17 in all. The county seat of Mower County is Austin in southern Minnesota.
The sites were quarantined, and depopulation has begun to prevent the spread of the disease. The Board established a six-mile control area around the infected sites and began scouting the area for further outbreaks.
Avian flu profile
Sometimes called “bird flu.” It is caused by viruses adapted to birds. Avian flu is similar to swine flu, dog flu, horse flu and human flu. These viruses don’t seem to jump species. Infected poultry is safe to eat if meat and eggs are cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. The greatest danger is financial to the commercial poultry industry, whose flocks can be wiped out. Birds become melancholy and disoriented and die quickly.