WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - Response plans for early detection and control of an outbreak of a deadly bird flu strain in the United States are unfolding in farm states like Kansas and Missouri with their susceptible poultry flocks, game bird hunting preserves and wild bird populations.

"When we find it, we need to jump on it hard and get rid of it - that is going to be the key to it," said Paul Grosdidier, a veterinarian with the Kansas Animal Health Department. "The quicker we get rid of it in the poultry population, the less concern we have with it in the human population."

Across the nation, rural states are incorporating the newly released draft National Avian Influenza Response Plan from the Agriculture Department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service into their own community outreach and emergency preparedness efforts.

In Kansas, the first of a series of Kansas pandemic influenza symposiums begins today in Great Bend focusing on avian flu in domestic fowl and game birds.