USDA identified a strain of highly contagious avian influenza in a poultry flock in Leavenworth County, Kansas, “the latest flare-up in a multi-state outbreak threatening U.S. poultry producers,” said the PBS NewsHour. The Kansas case was reported on Friday. Earlier in the week, bird flu was found in two counties in Missouri and one county in Arkansas. “Wild birds can carry some types of avian flu without becoming sick, so the introduction of the disease along the major migration route may enable its spread. However, wildlife experts have pointed out that the virus traveled south from Minnesota to Missouri and Arkansas, while birds migrate north at this time of year,” said the NewsHour.