Sadly, we keep having more and more cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza pop up throughout Iowa. We have seen cases in commercial, noncommercial, and wild flocks.

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Over in Page County, Conservation and Public Health Officials have confirmed the virus in a flock of snow geese at a local park.

County Conservation Director John Schwab told KMA that they were first made aware of the case two weeks ago when dead geese were discovered at the park.

"We collected a number of dead birds last Monday -- I think the total number was around 70. They were all snow geese that we collected, and the D-N-R tested 10 of them and send them out to the lab. Then, we got reports back this week that they were positive for the avian flu virus," Schwab said.

However, this isn’t uncommon in wild birds. Page County is using this as an opportunity to remind people to be extra precautions with our private flocks.

"The avian flu is always present in the wild bird population," he says. "It's just this is the strain that crosses over to domesticated flocks very quickly. So, from the guidelines we were getting, have individuals watch their flocks. A big way that it's transmitted is through the feces of the wild birds. So, there are a lot of wild birds around domesticated flocks. Just watch for the symptoms in the domesticated animals."

HPAI has been spreading through flocks of birds throughout Iowa. There are currently five domesticated commercial and non-commercial flocks that have been infected, causing the loss of life for millions of birds in Iowa.

 

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