Avian flu claims 3-million-bird flock

Avian influenza has claimed a layer flock of three million birds in Wisconsin.

It’s by far the largest disaster so far as wild birds continue to spread virus-containing poop across North America, Europe and Asia.

The United States has so far lost a total of about seven million chickens and turkeys to outbreaks this year. In 2015 it lost 50 million birds and the virus cost the U.S. treasury about $1billion in compensation and the poultry industry about $3 billion.

There have been three cases so far in Canada, one in Newfoundland and two in Nova Scotia; none of those were large commercial flocks.

So far the virus has been detected in 21 states and seven of those have involved only wild birds.