Deadly bird flu returns to Midwest earlier than expected

Janet Hostetter/AP

FILE - In this Nov. 2, 2005 file photo, turkeys are seen at a turkey farm near Sauk Centre, Minn. Bird flu has returned to Midwest earlier than authorities expected after a lull of several months, the Minnesota Board of Animal Health said Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022, The highly pathogenic disease was detected in a commercial turkey flock in Meeker County of western Minnesota after the farm reported an increase in mortality last weekend. Tests confirmed the disease Tuesday evening. The flock was euthanized to stop the spread. (AP Photo/Janet Hostetter, File)

By: Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Bird flu has returned to the Midwest earlier than authorities expected after a lull of several months.

Officials say the highly pathogenic disease was detected in two commercial turkey flocks in western Minnesota's Meeker County. Tests confirmed the disease Tuesday evening.

Officials also report that a small hobby flock of chickens, ducks and geese in Elkhart County, northern Indiana, tested presumptively positive Tuesday.

They were the first detections of avian influenza in the Midwest since an infection in Indiana in June. However, there have been several in western states in July and August, plus a few in some eastern states.