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A strain of avian flu has been found at a third commercial turkey farm in southern Indiana, state officials said Thursday.
Laboratory testing of a commercial flock of turkeys in Greene County has come 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 previous two cases were in nearby Dubois County.
Pending test results should indicate if the virus is the same as that in the previous cases and if the virus is highly pathogenic.
READ MORE: Indiana bird flu case puts US chicken, turkey farms on high alert
A high mortality rate led to testing at the third farm. Officials have begun euthanizing birds at the farm to prevent the spread of the disease.
A third 10-kilometer circle has been established around the farm in Greene County and northern Daviess County. Ten commercial poultry flocks within the new control area are under quarantine and will be tested regularly, the board said.
Animal Health Board staff have reached out to known hobby/backyard poultry owners in the new control area to schedule testing of birds there, it said.
The agency said avian influenza does not present an immediate public health concern and no human cases of avian influenza viruses have been detected in the U.S.
The turkey infections are the first confirmation of highly pathogenic bird flu in commercial poultry in the U.S. since 2020, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has said.
A January 2016 outbreak of bird flu in Dubois County affected 11 poultry farms, resulting in the loss of more than 400,000 birds, the Animal Health Board said.
Indiana ranks third nationally in turkey production.
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