With throngs of parishioners in attendance, Archbishop Robert G. Casey of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati presides over a Mass of Solidarity for all the families and individuals affected by bird flu on Monday evening at St. Bernard Catholic Church in Burkettsville. The bilingual service was Casey's second official visit to the area in three weeks, following his celebration of Mass at Precious Blood Church in Chickasaw May 31.

  Between Jan. 1 and April 14, there were 47 bird flu detections in Mercer County, 22 in Darke, two in Auglaize and one each in Van Wert, Portage and Stark counties. These outbreaks affected 14,961,578 commercial birds. In 2025 so far, bird flu has led to the destruction of 6,108,548 commercial birds in Mercer County, which would be about 69% of the county's commercial inventory of 8.8 million turkeys, layers, pullets and broilers, based on USDA's 2022 Ag Census. As well, a Mercer County commercial farm worker contracted bird flu in February after coming in contact with dead poultry that were infected with the virus. The area and state's last detected case of bird flu occurred April 14 in Darke County in a commercial layer facility. The outbreak affected 293,327 commercial layers (chickens).