Brought by Wild Neighbors, a Deadly Flu Attacks Turkey Flocks

nytimes.com - A virulent, deadly flu virus has hit the nation’s turkey flock, forcing culling and quarantines that are disrupting trade with various countries.

In the last several weeks, turkey producers in Minnesota, the largest turkey-producing state (46 million annually), have had to euthanize some 525,000 birds, and farms there and in other states affected by the virus are under quarantine in an effort to prevent it from spreading.

Experts are all but certain that the virus is being spread by the feathers, feet and feces of wild waterfowl like Canada geese that cruise three of the nation’s four flyways, the paths that migratory birds follow as they seek the perfect climate.