Bird flu hits Iowa farm, more than 5 million hens will be euthanized

A chicken.
(Image credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

More than five million hens at an Iowa commercial laying facility will be euthanized, following the discovery of bird flu on the premises, officials said.

In a statement, the Iowa Department of Agriculture said that the facility has been quarantined, and the birds will be "humanely euthanized to prevent the spread of the disease." Since December, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says almost eight million cases of bird flu have been found in 13 states, with more than seven million having been confirmed this month. This is the second outbreak in Iowa, CNN reports; the first happened at a turkey facility in Buena Vista County.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.