MINNEAPOLIS — Three months after a devastating form of bird flu made its first appearance in the Midwest, the first poultry farm in the region to be affected is growing turkeys again — even though the virus is still lurking in Minnesota and beyond.

The Pope County farm was restocked with new birds Sunday, Dr. Dale Lauer, an assistant director with the Minnesota Board of Animal Health, said.

It’s the first affected farm in the country’s top turkey producing state to reach the milestone of resuming production. A few other farms that were among the earliest to see the H5N2 virus will be restocked by next week, he said.

“We’re hoping to get these premises repopulated and back up and running and on the road to recovery,” Lauer said.

The farm’s turkeys started dying in late February, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture on March 4 identified the culprit as the H5N2 virus, All 44,000 birds there died from the virus or were culled to prevent its spread.