Bird flu detected in northeast Kansas

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - Bird flu has been detected in a backyard flock of chickens and ducks in northeast Kansas.

The Kansas Department of Agriculture said in a news release late Friday that the discovery was made in Leavenworth County. Backyard poultry owners in the county are urged to contact the department.

Additionally, parts of Cherokee and Crawford counties in the southeast part of the state are under surveillance after a confirmed case of the H5N2 strain of bird flu was found just across the state line in Jasper County, Missouri, this month.

Avian influenza is common in wild migratory waterfowl but doesn't usually harm them. But the H5N2 strain is deadly when it spreads to commercial poultry. It can wipe out a flock of tens of thousands of birds in a few days.