Wright County, Iowa — Although not yet detected in our broadcast area, bird flu is about 100 miles east-southeast of Sheldon, just east-northeast of Fort Dodge, in Wright County.
State and federal officials have confirmed bird flu has been detected in chickens at a commercial egg-laying facility there.
More than a million chickens will be euthanized to try to prevent the spread of the virus. This is the first case of bird flu confirmed this year in Wright County, where millions of birds are being housed in several different commercial facilities.
The southern migration of wild birds has heightened the threat the virus would return to Iowa and this is the second site in the state where bird flu has been confirmed this fall. The other site with bird flu confirmed this fall was in Dallas County, about a week and a half ago, on October 20th.
In March of this year, a couple of counties in and adjacent to our broadcast area had bird flu outbreaks. On the 6th, 17th, 23rd, and 29th, Buena Vista had outbreaks confirmed in commercial flocks. In addition, on March 31st, both Cherokee and Osceola counties had bird flu outbreaks.
