All Remaining Turkeys At Large Jennie-O Farm Will Be Killed

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Authorities say all remaining turkeys on a large Jennie-O Turkey Store farm in Meeker County of central Minnesota will be destroyed due to a bird flu outbreak.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed Wednesday that one of 12 barns on the farm had been infected with the deadly H5N2 avian influenza virus. The farm had 310,000 turkeys. On Friday, the Minnesota Board of Animal Health said the remaining birds would be killed as a precaution to stop any spread of the disease.

That means producers at nine affected Minnesota farms have lost 683,000 turkeys to the outbreak. About a third of those birds have died from the disease, while the rest are being euthanized.

Hundreds of commercial flocks near the affected Minnesota farms have been quarantined as a precaution.