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5.3 million chickens killed in Iowa due to bird flu outbreak

Des Moines, Iowa (AFP) – Confirmation of bird flu At another Iowa egg-laying farm, it will kill more than 5 million chickens, state officials said Friday.

This is the second confirmed case of bird flu in Buena Vista County, about 257 miles northwest of Des Moines, but the most recent bird flu outbreak involves 5.3 million chickens. The previous case was on a farm of about 50,000 turkeys.

The latest case confirmed by the state Department of Agriculture indicates that nearly 12.6 million chickens and turkeys in at least eight states have been killed or will soon be destroyed.

Spread of the disease is widely attributed to droppings or nasal secretions from infected wild birds, such as ducks and geese, which can contaminate dust and soil. Infected wild birds have been found in at least 24 states and the virus has been circulating in migratory waterfowl in Europe and Asia for nearly a year.

The first case of infection in Iowa was identified March 1 in a flock of 42 ducks and geese in the backyard of Potawatami County in western Iowa. Another laying hen farm with nearly 916,000 birds was reported with the virus on March 10 in Taylor County in southwestern Iowa.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the cases in birds are not an immediate public health concern. No human cases of bird flu have been detected in the United States. It remains safe to eat poultry products. Cooking poultry and eggs to an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit kills bacteria and viruses.

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