A fresh wave of bird flu has struck commercial turkey farms across Minnesota and the Dakotas, affecting more than 417,000 birds as the virus resurges during fall migration. The latest cases include two Minnesota flocks containing a combined 62,300 birds, bringing the number affected in the country’s leading turkey-producing state this fall to 92,100, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).
The outbreak, concentrated across the Upper Midwest poultry industry, has hit ahead of the holiday season. Since August 12, the virus has been confirmed in five South Dakota commercial flocks containing approximately 284,000 birds, including meat-turkey farms and breeding operations. Three Minnesota flocks totaling 92,100 birds have also been affected, along with a commercial flock of 41,600 turkeys in LaMoure County, North Dakota, according to federal outbreak data.
The North Dakota detection marked the second outbreak at a commercial turkey farm in LaMoure County this year, following a case confirmed in April, according to the North Dakota Department of Agriculture. The latest cluster is part of a nationwide outbreak that reached commercial poultry in February 2022 and has repeatedly forced producers to destroy entire affected flocks to limit the disease’s spread, the APHIS says. The newest detections were reported at two Minnesota operations: a meat-turkey flock of 44,300 birds and a commercial breeding flock containing 18,000 birds, according to APHIS outbreak data.
They followed a case involving 29,800 meat turkeys in Wright County, west of Minneapolis. The regional resurgence began in South Dakota’s Beadle County on August 12, when the virus was confirmed in a commercial flock of 74,900 meat turkeys. Federal records show a further detection affected 73,800 birds at a turkey breeding operation in Hamlin County, while another breeding flock of 30,200 birds was affected in Edmunds County.
The South Dakota Department of Health then alerted medical providers to watch for possible infections among people exposed to affected poultry in Edmunds and Hamlin counties. Two more South Dakota cases were confirmed on September 9, affecting 61,300 meat turkeys in McPherson County and 43,800 in Turner County, according to local outlet KELO-TV. The detections placed affected farms across eastern South Dakota, including counties near the Minnesota and North Dakota borders.
Across the state line, H5N1 was confirmed on September 1 at a turkey facility in LaMoure County, North Dakota. The county sits in the southeastern part of the state, north of the South Dakota border and west of Minnesota. The affected locations show the latest commercial outbreak extending across a connected portion of the northern Plains and Upper Midwest rather than being confined to a single production area.
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