Latest Iowa bird flu cases push December total near 700,000

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Four new cases of bird flu at Iowa turkey farms in the past few days will push the number of birds slaughtered nationwide this month to limit the spread of the virus up to nearly 700,000.

The latest cases announced by the Iowa Department of Agriculture only add to the toll of this year's ongoing outbreak that has prompted officials to kill more than 53 million birds in 47 states. Anytime the virus is found, the entire flock is killed to help control the disease.

Iowa officials said the latest cases found since Friday involved 240,000 birds on turkey farms in Sac, Buena Vista, Cherokee and Ida counties all in the northwest corner of the state. Iowa leads all states with nearly 16 million chickens and turkeys slaughtered this year — more than double the next closest state of Nebraska — largely because it is the nation's largest egg producer and egg farms can include millions of chickens.

Several other bird flu cases have been confirmed this month at other turkey farms in Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota and Missouri. An upland gamebird producer in Colorado also had to slaughter 18,000 birds to limit the spread of the virus.