The Stearns County detection is the first in a Minnesota dairy herd so far this year. The same 620-cow herd also tested positive last July. The first bird flu detection in Minnesota livestock involved a Benton County dairy herd last June.

The detection of bird flu in a sheep is another sign that the H5N1 virus is adapting to hop to new hosts The H5N1 bird flu virus has been found in a single sheep in England. This is the first time the virus has been detected in sheep,

Bird flu has been detected in a sheep in northern England, the first known case of its kind in the world, Britain's government said, adding to the growing list of mammals infected by the disease and fuelling fears of a pandemic.