# 9996
I was away from my desk for a few hours yesterday, and wasn’t able to to my usual summary of the latest H5N2 news, but luckily we have an excellent overview from CIDRAP NEWS Editor Robert Roos.
Minnesota reports three additional farms infected, and their first detection of the virus in a wild bird, but the worst effects are being felt in Iowa.
Avian flu taking big toll in Iowa; virus found in Minnesota hawk
Robert Roos
Apr 30, 2015
Nine more outbreaks in Iowa put that state's losses at a quarter of the state's 60 million layer hens.
Nine more H5 avian influenza outbreaks that were reported on Iowa poultry farms in the past 2 days, combined with previous outbreaks, will mean the loss of about a quarter of the state's 60 million layer hens, state officials said today.
In addition, Minnesota officials today announced three more turkey-farm outbreaks and reported finding the virus in a dead hawk, the first known wild-bird infection in the state that has by far the most poultry outbreaks.
Six outbreaks in one Iowa county
The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) reported four outbreaks late yesterday and added five more today. Six of them are in Buena Vista County in the northwestern part of the state.
Initial testing pointed to a highly pathogenic (HP) H5 virus, but there was little doubt that it would be confirmed as H5N2. At an afternoon press conference, Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey said birds on all the farms are showing clinical signs, "so we highly suspect they'll come back with N2" confirmed.
