Source: MEATINGPLACE, 4/2/15

USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has confirmed Minnesota’s fourth finding of highly pathogenic H5N2 avian influenza in a commercial turkey flock and the first such case in a commercial turkey flock in South Dakota.

The flock of 21,000 turkeys in Nobles County, Minn., is in the Mississippi flyway, and the flock of 53,000 turkeys in Beadle County, S.D., is in the Central flyway. The H5N2 strain has previously been identified and is highly similar to the other H5 HPAI viruses already confirmed in those flyways, APHIS said in a news release.

Both states quarantined the affected premises and will depopulate the birds, APHIS said.

No human infections with the virus have been detected, the agency said

USDA is updating the World Organization for Animal Health while these states’ health departments work with poultry workers at the affected facilities to ensure they’re taking proper precautions.

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