Bird flu found in Sac County turkey flock

(Courtesy of Stephen Ausmus/Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture)

A very transmissible avian flu recently infected a flock of about 46,000 turkeys at a commercial farm in Sac County in northwest Iowa, according to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.

It is the third poultry flock to be infected in Iowa this year. The last detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza in domestic birds was about three weeks ago at a turkey flock in nearby Cherokee County.

It is not yet clear whether the virus is the same variant that has been infecting cattle in northwest Iowa. On Wednesday, IDALS announced that a sixth dairy herd in Sioux County had the virus. The herd has about 100 cattle.

The virus has also been found in two other dairy herds in O’Brien and Plymouth counties. It is often deadly to poultry, but infected cows typically recover within two weeks. Entire bird flocks are destroyed to help prevent the spread of the disease.

The source of the initial cattle infection in Iowa is not yet known, said Don McDowell, a spokesperson for IDALS. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has said the virus has been transported from Texas — where it was initially discovered — to other states due to the movement of infected cattle but that local transmissions from herd to herd are likely caused by people and equipment going between them.

Three people who worked closely with cattle have been infected and had minor symptoms. The virus is not known to have transmitted person-to-person.

IDALS does not disclose the locations of infected flocks and herds as a biosecurity precaution, McDowell said.

“We protect the confidentiality of the impacted farms because we want to limit unneeded foot or vehicle traffic in the area, all of which is a possible vector for spreading disease,” he said.

In the past 10 days, the virus has been detected in four commercial turkey flocks in Minnesota with a total of about 314,000 birds, according to USDA data.

Infections of Iowa flocks and herds this year include:

— June 20: A commercial turkey flock in Sac County with about 46,000 birds.
— June 19: A dairy herd in Sioux County with about 100 cattle.
— June 17: A dairy herd in Sioux County with about 10,000 cattle.
— June 15: A dairy herd in Sioux County with about 520 cattle.
— June 14: A dairy herd in Plymouth County with about 3,000 cattle.
— June 14: A dairy herd in Sioux County with about 1,000 cattle.
— June 12: A dairy herd in Sioux County with about 1,700 cattle.
— June 7: A dairy herd in Sioux County with about 250 cattle.
— June 5: A dairy herd in O’Brien County with about 4,500 cattle.
— June 2: A commercial turkey flock in Cherokee County with about 103,000 birds.
— May 28: A commercial egg-laying chicken flock in Sioux County with about 4.2 million birds.

This article first appeared in the Iowa Capital Dispatch, a sister site of the Nebraska Examiner in the States Newsroom network.

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