Concern over the largest bird flu outbreak in U.S. poultry history continues to grow and it has cost chicken and turkey producers in the Midwest more than seven million birds so far.

Senator John Thune is urging people at every level of government to pay close attention to the outbreak to ensure something is done to contain it.

"When this thing comes along you've got to do everything to get ahead of it. I think we're going to be working, coordinating as much as we can with state, local, and federal officials to make that happen. For a while we thought this was going to be a fairly isolated thing. But as its continues to spread, I think the index raises in terms of elevating this to a higher level of attention."

While Thune says South Dakota doesn't have as much poultry production as other states, anything that affects agriculture affects South Dakota.

Almost 300,000 turkeys on six farms in South Dakota have been killed since the bird flu appeared in the state last month.

The outbreak has now hit 44 Minnesota farms, killing nearly 2.6 million turkeys and 3 million chickens in Iowa.

More From KIKN-FM / Kickin' Country 99.1/100.5