CHICAGO (Reuters) – A highly lethal form of bird flu hit a commercial flock of egg-laying chickens in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Monday, expanding an outbreak that has limited exports of U.S. poultry products.
Prior to the infections in Wisconsin, about 4 million commercially raised U.S. chickens and turkeys had been killed since February due to outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian flu, USDA data show.
Flocks are culled after the disease is detected, and importing countries have imposed state-specific import restrictions in response.
(Reporting by Tom Polansek; Editing by Chris Reese)
