Avian flu strikes Mahaska County backyard flock

The 19th outbreak of avian flu to be confirmed over the last eight weeks in Iowa struck a backyard flock in Mahaska County, state agriculture officials said Tuesday.

After a seven-month break in the state, reports of avian flu resurfaced in late October — leading to nearly 3 million birds being killed over eight weeks in Iowa, according to federal figures.

Migrating wild birds are thought to be the culprit for spreading the disease, and entire flocks are euthanized after an outbreak is confirmed to try to contain the biohazard. The majority of cases reported this fall in Iowa are of smaller flocks — although 1.1 million chickens in Taylor County and 1.6 million chickens in Sioux County, both at commercial egg layer operations, were killed this fall, making up for most of the total number of birds that were euthanized.

The latest report shows that the 19 confirmations since late October were spread over 14 Iowa counties: Buena Vista, Pocahontas, Guthrie, Clay, Hamilton, Kossuth, Taylor, Jones, Cerro Gordo, Benton, Sioux, Woodbury, Mills and Mahaska counties, according to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.