Two Midwest turkey farms are the latest entities to see a highly deadly bird flu outbreak.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza was detected in a Beadle County commercial turkey meat bird farm on Wednesday, according to data from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Producers will be forced to cull a total of 75,800 birds.
This is the third confirmed case of bird flu in the state in 2023 and its largest detection so far.
Based on previous Argus Leader reporting, Beadle County culled 410,300 HPAI-affected birds in commercial flocks last year. More than double the number of birds have been affected in South Dakota compared to the second deadliest avian influenza outbreak between 2014 and 2015.
Also on Wednesday, APHIS data confirmed bird flu was detected at a Dickey County commercial turkey flock. The county is north of Aberdeen and borders South Dakota. At least 58,500 birds were affected by this detection.
This is North Dakota's first detected case of HPAI this year. More than 236,000 birds were impacted by the virus in North Dakota last year.
Source: argusleader.com
Photo Credit: GettyImages-Anna Tarazevich
Categories: North Dakota, Livestock, Poultry, South Dakota, Livestock, Poultry