Bird flu case found in southwest Iowa egg-laying flock

By DAVID PITT
Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — State and federal officials say a third case of bird flu has been identified in Iowa in a flock of about 919,000 egg-laying chickens. The newest location is in Taylor County in southwest Iowa. It is the first case in Iowa this year in an egg laying facility. Previous cases were in an outdoor flock of ducks and chickens in Pottawattamie County in western Iowa and in a flock of 50,000 turkeys in Buena Vista County in northwest Iowa. The presence of the virus is troubling for poultry producers in Iowa, the nation’s leading egg producer. Since the first infection in the U.S. this year in Indiana on Feb. 9 the virus infected backyard and commercial flocks in 12 states.