Bird flu infects two more Sioux County dairies

Jared Strong
·2 min read

There are about 850 dairy farms in Iowa, ranging in size from 25 to 10,000 cows. (Photo courtesy of Iowa State Dairy Association)

State officials have detected avian flu in cattle of two more Sioux County dairy farms for a total of eight in the past two weeks.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship announced the new highly pathogenic avian influenza detections Friday. One of the affected herds has about 500 cattle and the other has about 45.

Sioux County has the largest number of dairy cattle of any Iowa county with about 39 licensed dairies, which means about a fifth of those herds have been infected.

Cows generally recover from infections within two weeks. The virus has also been discovered in two other herds in O’Brien and Plymouth counties.

The virus is often fatal for domestic birds, and it has infected three Iowa poultry flocks this year. That included a flock of 4.2 million egg-laying chickens in late May and two turkey farms, one of which was affected this week in Sac County. Entire flocks are culled to help prevent the spread of the virus.

Infections of Iowa flocks and herds this year include:

— June 21: A dairy herd in Sioux County with about 500 cattle.
— June 21: A dairy herd in Sioux County with about 45 cattle.
— 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.

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