For the first time, birds in a Wayne County backyard flock have been sickened by the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus, MDARD reported.

In addition to the isolation measures, birds were killed to prevent the highly-contagious virus from spreading, officials said.

The Wayne County case involves a backyard poultry flock, the press release said. That case was confirmed after an investigation by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Michigan State University Veterinary Diagnostic Library.