MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — One of the nation's largest egg producers says it will destroy 2 million egg-laying hens in Minnesota due to a deadly bird flu virus.

The outbreak at the Minnesota chicken farm brings the total of affected birds to 35 million in 15 states, with Minnesota and Iowa poultry flocks hit the hardest.

The Star Tribune reports the chickens at Rembrandt Enterprises farm in Renville will be killed in the next four weeks.

The company's vice president of marketing, Jonathan Spurway, said Saturday one barn holding around 200,000 birds was infected but the entire flock will be killed as a precaution.

Rembrandt Enterprises suffered an outbreak in its Rembrandt, Iowa, facility May 1st, contaminating one barn housing about 250,000 hens. A third plant in Thompson, Iowa hasn't been affected.

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