(VOVworld) - Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton declared Saturday an emergency over the widespread H5N2 avian influenza invasion of poultry farms, as the US first outbreaks in chickens and backyard poultry were reported and Wisconsin and Iowa each announced a new turkey outbreak. By declaring a state of emergency, Dayton activated an emergency operations plan to support the state's response to the crisis, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. The state has logged 46 outbreaks in 16 counties, with more than 2.63 million birds either killed by the virus or destroyed to stop its spread, according to the Minnesota Board of Animal Health (MBAH).