Bird flu confirmed in backyard flock in central Illinois; similar infections reported across US

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Avian flu has been confirmed in a backyard flock of birds in central Illinois.

The flock is non-commercial and the affected premises in McLean County have been quarantined, state Agriculture officials said Saturday in a release.

Birds on the property will be depopulated to prevent the spread of the disease, officials added.

The Illinois Agriculture department is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service on a joint response.

Similar infections have been reported across the United States in recent weeks.

Bird flu was detected earlier this month in a backyard flock of ducks and chickens in western Iowa. The flock was described as small and noncommercial.

RELATED: Bird flu outbreak confirmed in northwest Iowa commercial turkey flock: officials

The virus strain is potentially deadly to commercial poultry. A 2015 bird flu outbreak killed 50 million birds across 15 states and cost the federal government nearly $1 billion.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the recent bird flu cases do not present an immediate public health concern. No human cases of these viruses have been detected in the U.S.