The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) is strongly encouraging poultry producers and those with backyard birds to be especially vigilant about the signs and symptoms of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) and to practice the highest levels of biosecurity around their birds, the agency said last week.

Recent cases of HPAI were confirmed in South Dakota and Minnesota this month, and the destructive virus continues to actively ...