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(Des Moines, IA) -- The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says they're seeing an increase in cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza in tests of wild birds. They say the H-5-N-1 strain that has been circulating since 2022 and it's the first time wild birds in in North America have been affected at such a massive scale.
The increase was first detected in areas of north of Interstate 80 earlier this month. Researchers say the virus can remain alive in a dead bird for several weeks, depending upon the surrounding environmental conditions.
Iowa had three more additional cases of bird flu reported in poultry in northwest Iowa on Monday. It brings the total number of poultry cases in Iowa this year to eleven.