Agriculture officials in Iowa say bird flu will claim an additional four-million chickens on two more farms in a county already hit hard by the disease.
Officials say the latest outbreak of avian influenza has hit chickens at two farms in Iowa’s Wright County, although tests for the disease still need final confirmation.
The county earlier reported a farm with almost three-million chickens affected.
Iowa's chicken loss is approaching 25 million. That’s more than 40 percent of the state's egg-laying flock.
Agriculture officials also say they’ve detected the virus at five more turkey farms in Iowa. The economic fallout from the disease is still unclear but Mexico is no longer importing live birds or eggs from Iowa.
Meanwhile, Wildlife officials in Wisconsin say they found a dead Snowy Owl in the northern part of the state that tested positive for bird flu. No cases of the virus have been reported in Illinois this spring.
