Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines is practicing caution after more bird flu cases were reported across the state. Most of the zoo’s bird species are housed indoors in their winter habitats. That helps reduce the risk of the virus.

Amid a number of cases confirmed in Iowa, officials at Blank Park Zoo are taking extra precautions to monitor bird flu.

The Sedgwick County Zoo has activated its Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) action plan after a case was positively identified in the county.

The first human case of the bird flu in Iowa has been diagnosed in a poultry worker exposed to infected birds, state reports

The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services announced Friday the state’s first human case of the highly pathogenic avian influenza. According to a press release from the department, the individual is a commercial poultry worker who was exposed by a flock in northwest Iowa.

The department urges people, who are in direct contact, who develop flu-like symptoms or an eye infection to contact their doctor.