Bird flu hits backyard flock in Kossuth County

An outbreak of highly contagious bird flu has been discovered in a backyard flock in north-central Iowa’s Kossuth County, state agriculture officials announced Monday.

It brings to 18 the number of outbreaks confirmed so far this year in Iowa, all since the start of March.

Agriculture officials did not say how many birds were being euthanized in the latest outbreak to help curtail the spread of the disease. So far, more than 13.3 million poultry birds in the state — and over 33.6 million nationwide — have been euthanized this year.

Almost all the outbreaks in the state have been in commercial chicken and turkey operations. The non-commercial Kossuth County outbreak is the third backyard flock affected so far this year in Iowa.