Lethal Bird Flu Discovered In Commercial US Poultry Operation For The First Time

A lethal strain of bird flu has been discovered in the United States for the first time, the United States Department of Agriculture has confirmed. The virus, H5N2, was discovered in a commercial egg-laying facility in Wisconsin in a flock of 200,000 hens.

Authorities in Wisconsin have not identified the owner of the chickens, but confirmed that the group will be quarantined and culled in order to stop the spread of the deadly virus. The virus has already killed hundreds of thousands of turkeys this year.

Neither the chickens nor the eggs from the facility will enter the food system, officials confirmed.

On Monday, experts expressed concern for the geographic spread of the disease, rather than its infection of chickens, which experts had already anticipated.

"The big deal is it's in another state," John Glisson, vice president of research for the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association, told Reuters.

No human cases of the bird flu have been detected.