Over 500,000 chickens in Nebraska are set to be killed in a “humane manner” after contracting bird flu, the state Agriculture Department announced on March 22. The Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) made the announcement in a press release in conjunction with the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). Officials said that the case of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) —also known as “bird flu”—was confirmed in a commercial flock of 570,000 broilers in Butler County. The farm is now “under NDA quarantine” and the birds will be “humanely depopulated and disposed of in an approved manner,” NDA said. Additionally, officials will also be establishing a 6.2-mile control zone around the infected premises. “Premises with poultry that fall within that control zone will not be allowed to move birds or poultry products on or off their premises without permission from NDA,” officials said. HPAI is a highly contagious …