The recent avian influenza outbreaks in Tennessee and Wisconsin felt all too familiar to state and poultry industry leaders in Iowa.

Though avian influenza hasn’t been identified in Iowa, the virus was found in Tennessee and Wisconsin, in the Mississippi flyway, the same flyway that cuts across Iowa. That’s too close for comfort says Bill Northey, secretary of agriculture for the Iowa Department of Ag and Land Stewardship (IDALS).

"It’s in our flyway, so it feels close to home," Northey said.

A highly pathogenic H7 strain of bird flu was detected in a chicken breeder flock on a Tennessee farm contracted with Tyson Foods Inc. News reports say 73,500 birds were set to be culled to stop the spread of the virus.

The Tennessee Department of Agriculture...