A highly contagious strain of avian influenza has reached a commercial broiler farm in Worcester County, making it the first confirmed case in the area and the ninth on the Delmarva Peninsula, agricultural officials announced.

Public health and natural resource managers in both Illinois and Wisconsin are looking at, but have not yet confirmed, if bird flu is responsible for dozens of bird deaths along lake Michigan. Reports started coming in after dozens of dead ducks washed up on lake beaches between Chicago and Milwaukee.

Six cases of bird flu have been reported in Maryland, as of Feb. 2, according to the Department of Agriculture (MDA).

Thieves in the US state of Pennsylvania have stolen more than 100,000 eggs - worth $40,000 (£32,000) - from a single grocer. The heist targeted the back of a lorry at Pete & Gerry's Organics in Greencastle on 1 February,