Poultry experts urge prevention to keep bird-flu out of Ohio

COLUMBUS (AP) — Ohio poultry industry officials and veterinarians are urging prevention to keep a bird-flu strain out of the state that has been identified in other parts of the country.

Migratory birds appear to have helped the spread of the H5N2 virus that the U.S. Department of Agriculture identified last year on the West Coast, The Columbus Dispatch reports.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says this strain of avian flu has not been linked to any human illness and is a low risk for infecting humans, but is deadly to birds.

The Ohio poultry industry, including chicken eggs and meat plus turkeys, is valued at $1 billion.