Indianapolis (WISH) — The recent outbreak of bird flu in Illinois has Indiana farmers on high alert, but the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) confirmed Thursday Indiana is already seeing more bird flu cases.
The Kakadoodle farm in Matteson, Illinois, is where the virus wiped out an entire flock of 3,000 hens. The owners, Marty and Marikate Thomas, discovered the first signs of trouble when 30 hens unexpectedly died as temperatures dropped.
Initially, they thought it was simply an environmental issue, but the situation quickly escalated as hundreds more birds died, leading them to suspect something more serious. A subsequent confirmation from a vet and the USDA revealed the worst—highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), or known as the bird flu, hit their farm…