Officials say bird flu found at 3rd Indiana duck farm

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Avian influenza has been detected in a third northern Indiana duck farm, state officials said Monday.

Laboratory testing of a third commercial duck flock in Elkhart County came back as presumptively positive for the virus, the Indiana State Board of Animal Health said. The samples are being verified at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Iowa.

The duck flock has an estimated 6,500 birds, the Indiana agency said.

The animal health board in an announcement did not say whether the ducks would be destroyed, as happened with six turkey farms in southern Indiana's Dubois and Greene counties. The board also did not disclose whether the birds at the first duck farm would be destroyed when it announced the detection of bird flu there on April 7.

Pending test results should indicate if it is the same strain of the virus that has been found elsewhere.

Animal Health Board staff have reached out to known poultry owners in the area to schedule testing of birds, the board said.

So far this year, 24 states have found cases of bird flu affecting chickens, turkeys and ducks.

Health officials say avian influenza does not present an immediate public health concern and no human cases have been detected in the U.S.