Iowa’s Republican Governor Kim Reynolds has authorized a disaster proclamation in response to a confirmed outbreak of bird flu in a commercial turkey flock.

The proclamation, effective immediately, allows the state to utilize resources for rapid detection, containment, and disposal of the virus.

On Sunday officials announced they detected a case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in the Cherokee County, Iowa, Turkey flock.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship is strongly encouraging Iowa poultry producers and dairy farmers to bolster their biosecurity practices and protocols to protect their flocks and herds. The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship has biosecurity recommendations for dairy herds to utilize. In addition, the Department has numerous other biosecurity resources for poultry producers and livestock farms to reference on its website. Farmers or farm workers who interact regularly with both dairy and poultry or who interact frequently with other farm workers in poultry or dairy, should take extra precautions to limit possible transmissions.

Officials say there are no immediate public health concerns, and insist it is safe to consume poultry products.

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Photo by Ruth Caron on Unsplash