File photo: DACTP
Following the first reported case earlier this week in Jefferson County, officials with the state Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection says poultry flocks in Juneau and Barron counties have tested positive for a deadly strain of avian influenza.
The Barron County infection involves a flock of 126,000 turkey at a commercial operation, while the Juneau County case impacts 40 mixed breed birds in a backyard flock.
State and federal officials have quarantined both properties and the birds are being destroyed. Neighboring properties with poultry will also be under observation.
The strain of the virus, which is fatal in poultry, has not been found to have caused any disease in humans and is not expected to pose a risk to public health or the nation’s food supply. The virus has been found in several other states, including outbreaks in Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Arkansas, the Dakotas and Kansas, and has resulted in the destruction of more than one million turkey and chickens since January.