More Than 100,000 Turkeys Affected by US Bird Flu Outbreak

A bird flu outbreak that has spread across the world for more than a year now has returned to the U.S., just in time to potentially disrupt Thanksgiving festivities.

Officials in Meeker County, Minnesota — around 60 miles west of Minneapolis — have confirmed an outbreak of the bird flu at a turkey farm, requiring 140,000 birds to be culled, the Star Tribune reports.

"Unfortunately, [the bird flu] seems to keep popping up during the seasonal migrations in Minnesota," Brian Hoefs, M.D., the state’s chief veterinarian, said in a release. "Before today's detection our most recent cases were in the spring of this year."

The news arrives just a week after officials in South Dakota reported the culling of nearly 50,000 birds in response to bird flu detections — the first time the virus was found in domesticated U.S. flocks in six months.

The outbreak has affected nearly 60 million domesticated birds in America since it first began early last year. This does not include the countless number of wild birds who have died from the disease.

Minnesota officials say they do not expect these recent outbreaks to affect the food supply, however a spike in chicken and egg prices  earlier this year were linked to similar outbreaks.

While only one person has been infected, the rampant spread of the virus has officials concerned about a potential spillover and outbreak in humans. Further raising fears were reports out of Cambodia this week, where officials confirmed the deaths of two more people from the disease.

The avian flu can jump from birds to humans when a person gets fluids from infected fowl into their nose, mouth or eyes. While this means the virus poses little risk to the typical American, people in rural areas or with backyard flocks could be potentially at risk.

"Anyone who has poultry should take this detection as a clear sign to keep a close eye on their flock and initiate your strongest biosecurity practices," Dr. Hoefs continued.

While human-to-human transmission is rare among the currently circulating strains, there is potential for the virus to mutate in a way that primes it to cause a pandemic in people. The more it spreads among birds, the increased chance it has of mutating in a way that allows it to jump to humans.

Recent confirmed cases among mammals — like seals in the Seattle area — have raised alarms.

Fearing a potential human outbreak, The Lancet, a highly respected British medical journal, has launched an inquiry into the bird flu hoping to find how at risk humans are and whether anything can be done to prevent its spread.

In an effort to save birds, French officials said earlier this month that they will begin vaccinating birds, a move American officials have reportedly considered.