The government has declared a state of emergency in Nebraska after the contagious H5N2 avian flu virus was detected at another farm site.
Time noted that on Thursday Gov. Pete Ricketts declared the emergency when Nebraska’s Department of Agriculture confirmed that a second farm in the state has been infected.
“While not a human health threat, the discovery of avian influenza is a serious situation for our poultry sector, and I want to provide responders with access to all appropriate tools to address it,” Ricketts said in a statement.
The governor’s plan is following suit from other states that had to take similar measures after suffering an outbreak.
The second farm to be hit with the virus in Nebraska is located in Dixon County and is in close proximity to the first farm where the virus was detected earlier this week. Both of the farms are owned by the same firm, but officials declined to name that firm.
The H5N2 avian flu has devastating farms in several states including Wisconsin and Iowa. And, as previously reported, just last month turkey farms in Minnesota were infected with lethal strain.
In all, more than 30 million birds in have been culled by the virus.
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