In addition to the isolation measures, birds were killed to prevent the highly-contagious virus from spreading, officials said.

For the first time, birds in a Wayne County backyard flock have been sickened by the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus, MDARD reported.

The Wayne County case involves a backyard poultry flock, the press release said. That case was confirmed after an investigation by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Michigan State University Veterinary Diagnostic Library.

The announcement comes one week after officials announced that H5N1 had been detected in a backyard flock in Oakland County and that 12 people who'd had contact with the infected

The CDC reports that the spread of bird flu viruses from one infected person to a close contact is very rare, and when it has happened, it has only spread to a few people. When a human is affected, it is likely because of direct contact with a sick animal with H5N1,