Officials said Tuesday that an eighth turkey flock in Minnesota has been infected with a lethal strain of bird flu this month. The news came just one day after epidemiologists arrived to investigate how the bird flu is spreading so quickly.

Since Thursday, Minnesota has detected five cases of H5N2 in commercial turkey flocks. The strain is capable of wiping out a flock of poultry in 48 hours. This flock contains nearly 30,000 turkeys and is located within the Mississippi flyway where this avian strain has been located previously, according to The Poultry Site. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said that this is the second H5N2 case to hit Kandiyohi County, Minn. in two days. Kandiyohi County is Minnesota’s top turkey-producing county.

Reuters reported that a team of USDA epidemiologists arrived on the scene Monday searching for answers. They are focused on discovering how the virus is making its way into the flocks, according to Erica Gunderson, a spokeswoman for the Minnesota Board of Animal Health.

The USDA believes that migratory ducks are responsible for spreading the flu, but they are not sure how the virus is moving from wild birds to poultry flocks. The latest infected flock will be culled to prevent spreading the virus further, and the flock will not venture into the food supply.

 

The deadly strain has hit flocks in Washington, Arizona, Kansas, Missouri, Idaho, Oregon and more since the beginning of this year. As a result, overseas buyers have limited their poultry imports from companies such as Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation and Tyson Foods Inc. And on Tuesday, Taiwan and Japan appointed trade restrictions on any poultry from Ontario due to the strain.

CDC considers people to be at low risk to this avian strain in commercial poultry, backyard flocks and wild birds. As of now, no human infections have been reported.  Officials say that properly cooked poultry does not pose an infection risk to people, according to Blackburn News.