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 SAUK CENTRE, Minn. (AP) - The sign outside Rick Klaphake's turkey farm reads: "Absolutely no trespassing — disease control."
The 12,000 turkey hens gobbling away in one of his 500-foot-long barns were living out the final days of their 18-week lives. But not because of bird flu. Most of them will grace holiday dining tables starting with Thanksgiving later this month.
Poultry growers like Klaphake, as well as government and industry officials, say they're confident the U.S. poultry industry is safe from dangerous strains of bird flu, such as H5N1, that have ravaged poultry in Asia and spread to parts of Europe. The biggest reason: the animals are kept in, and people and wild birds are kept out.
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