Bird flu confirmed in chicken flock in southeastern Missouri

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Federal inspectors have confirmed the presence of bird flu in a flock of commercial broiler chickens in southeastern Missouri’s Stoddard County. The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed the discovery in a news release Friday. The USDA says Missouri officials have quarantined the affected premises, and birds on the properties will be killed and disposed of to prevent the spread of the disease. The announcement comes nearly a month after the discovery of the highly contagious avian virus in a commercial turkey flock in Indiana and only days after it was detected in a backyard flock of chickens and ducks in western Iowa.