(Pierre, SD) — Two more South Dakota turkey farms are infected with a “highly pathogenic” strain of bird flu. According to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, a government agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture, commercial turkey farms in Faulk and McPherson counties were confirmed to have bird flu Tuesday.
More than one-hundred-14-thousand birds are affected between the two operations. It comes two weeks after a detection in Jerauld County. This earlier outbreak marked the first reemergence of bird flu within a U.S. commercial poultry flock since April 19th, when a Beadle County and a Dickey County, North Dakota, turkey flock were both confirmed to be sites of the virus.
South Dakota is now the second hardest-hit state in the nation for the number of birds affected by HPAI following Minnesota.