The year’s first bird flu outbreak has hit a mixed flock in Kossuth County with 7,000 pheasants and 120 chickens, the Iowa Department of Agriculture reports.

The news comes as poultry producers are about to enter the fifth year of struggling with highly pathogenic avian influenza. The deadly disease has wiped out nearly 186.2 million chicken, turkeys and other domestic birds since it emerged Feb. 8, 2022, in an Indiana flock, U.S. Department of Agriculture data shows.

The toll has included 30.7 million birds in Iowa, the nation’s largest producer of eggs and seventh-largest turkey producer. Birds in flocks where the infection is detected are destroyed to contain the highly contagious disease.

Bird flu also has sickened dairy cows, other domestic and wild mammals and people who work closely with animals. While two people in the U.S. have died ― one in Louisiana and the other in Washington state ― the risk to humans is considered low, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The virus has been detected in milk from infected cows, and consumers are encouraged to avoid raw, unpasteurized milk.

Donnelle Eller covers agriculture, the environment and energy for the Register. Reach her at deller@registermedia.com.