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USDA Confirms Fifth South Dakota Turkey Farm Has Bird Flu

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A bird flu strain that’s led to the deaths of more than 2.5 million birds in the Midwest has been confirmed at a fifth commercial turkey farm in South Dakota.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service confirmed the H5N2 strain of avian influenza in a flock of 70,000 birds in Roberts County. That’s the largest flock of turkeys found infected with the disease in South Dakota since it appeared in the state last month.

State Veterinarian Dustin Oedekoven says crews are beginning to euthanize the remaining birds at the farm to prevent the disease from spreading.

Oedekoven says the approximately 6-mile quarantine zone officials have set up around the farm also extends into parts of North Dakota and Minnesota.