ST. PAUL  — Minnesota health officials said bird flu has been confirmed in a flock in Stearns County.

It’s the 10th such flock in Stearns County to have the virus, and includes 27,000 turkeys.

Bird flu has hit the Midwest hard this spring in an epidemic that has killed some 15 million birds in several states. In Minnesota, more than three million birds have died or been euthanized, most of them turkeys. That’s roughly 6.5 percent of the state’s annual turkey production.

Fifty-six farms have now been hit in 18 counties.