Bird Flu Not Over Yet for the Midwest

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says he’s not ready to declare the Midwest bird flu outbreak over.

While no new cases of the H5N2 virus have been detected for over a month, Vilsack says that the threat hasn’t passed.

He said poultry producers have caught a break thanks to the summer weather because warmer temperatures tend to kill the virus.

But he also said his agency is aware of the need to be prepared in case the disease reappears this fall.

Bird flu has cost Midwest poultry producers about 48 million birds.