HPAI toll rises among turkey producers in South Dakota

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) continues to plague U.S. poultry producers, with three commercial turkey operations in South Dakota among the latest to be infected by the virus, affecting more than 174,000 birds. 

The outbreaks in the Mount Rushmore state confirmed on Friday include a 50,700-turkey facility and a 67,000-turkey facility in Beadle County, as well as a 55,500-bird turkey meat producer in Spink County, according to the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. 
Of the roughly 60 detections confirmed among commercial and backyard flocks in South Dakota since March, more than 40 involved commercial turkey producers, the APHIS tally shows. 

Still, turkey producers are not the only ones being hit by the deadly-to-birds virus. In Nebraska’s Dixon County, 1.7 million birds were affected by HPAI at a commercial table egg layer facility in a detection also confirmed on Friday, the agency said. 
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As of Monday, HPAI has been confirmed this year in 648 commercial and backyard flocks, affecting 52.48 million birds, or a couple million more than in 2014 and 2015.