Bird flu forces slaughter of 39K turkeys at Missouri farm

State agricultural officials say 39,000 turkeys at a southwest Missouri farm have been destroyed after avian flu was detected late last week.
The Joplin Globe reports the H5N1 strain of the virus is weaker than the H5N2 virus that led to the deaths of 48 million birds last year in Missouri and more than a dozen other states.
It's also a different virus than the H7N8 strain found in Indiana this year.
A Missouri Department of Agriculture spokeswoman says the flu is a low-pathogenic variety, meaning the birds often show no or only minor symptoms and have a lesser mortality rate from the virus.

The state isn't identifying the quarantined Missouri farm, other than that it's in Jasper County. Commercial flocks within a six-mile radius have tested negative.