WILLMAR, Minn. – A fourth commercial flock of turkeys in Kandiyohi County is confirmed infected with bird flu, one of two additional Minnesota sites identified Tuesday in the State Board of Animal Health’s daily web update.

The diagnosis of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 was confirmed on April 4 in the flock of 20,450 breeder hens in Kandiyohi County. The infection of 34,000 broiler turkeys in Morrison County, the county’s second infection site, was also confirmed on April 4 and reported on Tuesday.

Tuesday’s update from the Board of Animal Health showed that a Dodge County site, which was listed Monday as quarantined but not yet confirmed, received a confirmed diagnosis on April 3.

The Board of Animal Health’s Avian Influenza Response web page at bah.state.mn.us/hpai is updated each weekday. The new sites reported Tuesday bring the total number of infected sites in Minnesota to 15 and the number of affected birds to 636,648.

In addition to four infection sites in Kandiyohi County, Stearns County has had three and Morrison County now has two. Single sites have been reported in Becker, Dodge, Lac qui Parle, LeSueur, Meeker and Mower counties. Most of them have been turkey trading sites. The Mower County report is listed as a backyard grower, as is one of the Stearns County sites.

The first cases of H5N1 in Minnesota were confirmed March 25, according to the Board of Animal Health.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza is extremely contagious and deadly to domestic poultry. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service confirmed its presence in wild waterfowl in the Atlantic Flyways in January, and its spread to a commercial flock of turkeys in Indiana has been reported. confirmed in early February.

According to the USDA detection summary updated on April 5, avian flu has been confirmed in commercial flocks in 14 states, including Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Dakotas. Several of those 14 states also had backyard flock detections, and another 10 states only had backyard flock detections. It has been found in wild birds in 32 states.