Bird flu has struck a commercial turkey operation with 18,000 birds in north central Iowa’s Hamilton County, the Iowa Department of Agriculture says.

The outbreak reported Tuesday, Dec. 2, is the first in Iowa since October, when highly pathogenic avian influenza was detected at a Calhoun County turkey operation with 42,000 birds .

This outbreak brings Iowa’s total to nine for the year, U.S. Department of Agriculture data shows.

Flocks in which the deadly disease is detected are destroyed to prevent it from spreading. Since the current wave of bird flu began in February 2022, Iowa poultry producers and families with backyard flocks have lost nearly 30.7 million turkeys, chickens, ducks and other birds.

Nationally, the disease has killed 184.03 million birds, USDA data shows.

Bird fl

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