Bird flu forces egg farm to euthanize 3 million chickens

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — An outbreak of bird flu that has led to the deaths of 43 million chickens and turkeys this year across the U.S. has been found at a giant egg-laying operation in Ohio. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the case confirmed over the weekend in Ohio’s Defiance County has affected roughly 3 million chickens. The state’s veterinarian says the farm has started euthanizing all of its flock. The highly pathogenic disease has returned to the Midwest earlier than authorities expected after a lull of several months. Cases have been found in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana and North Dakota within the past week.