NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Tyson Foods  (TSN) - Get Report fell 4.27% to $38.08 in morning trading Wednesday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a suspected case of avian influenza, aka bird flu, in poultry in Arkansas.

Arkansas is the third-largest U.S. producer of turkey and the home state of Tyson Foods, the largest chicken company in the nation.

"There is a suspect case in Arkansas, but testing is ongoing," USDA spokeswoman Lyndsay Cole told Reuters.

If confirmed, the bird flu infection could lead to more trading restrictions from nations such as Taiwan, Singapore, and Nicaragua that have already limited U.S. poultry exports thanks to bird flu outbreaks in other states, including Minnesota, Missouri, and California.

Arkansas producers have been on guard for a potential bird flu outbreak since Minnesota and Missouri confirmed cases of the highly pathogenic virus in the last week. The Minnesota outbreak was the first case in the Mississippi flyway, a migratory route along the Mississippi River that includes Missouri and Arkansas, Reuters notes.

The H5N2 virus has not been identified in humans and is not expected to pose a public health risk, according to the USDA.

Insight from TheStreet's Research Team:

Brian Sozzi commented on Tyson Foods in a recent post about Target  (TGT) - Get Report on RealMoney.com. Here is what Sozzi had to say about the stock:

Target's presentation in fresh food has been abysmal since it launched several years back. The fixtures are too small in size, and the range of goods offered is embarrassing given Target's reach into the national food supply chain. Also, the company's selection in prepared foods, a hot profitable category at grocery stores, is basically nonexistent. I think Target's new approach to grocery has multiple knock-on effects. First, processed foods from cereal to soda will be pruned, which is a detriment to cereal companies and soda makers. Tyson and other publicly traded meat producers could be winners as Target expands its fresh and prepared food offerings. Even Hain Celestial (HAIN) - Get Report, with its range of 'better for you' drinks, will see a tailwind. Obviously, any improvement in packaged food and fresh food by Target will be a negative to Kroger (KR) - Get Report and Walmart (WMT) - Get Report (I do like how Walmart has expanded its food assortment inside its stores, Target has catching up to do) and to a lesser extent Whole Foods (WFM) , which simply is in its own realm.

- Brian Sozzi, ' Why Target's Transformation Is Important' originally published 3/4/2015 on RealMoney.com.

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Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates TYSON FOODS INC as a Buy with a ratings score of A+. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate TYSON FOODS INC (TSN) a BUY. This is based on the convergence of positive investment measures, which should help this stock outperform the majority of stocks that we rate. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, attractive valuation levels, good cash flow from operations, increase in net income and growth in earnings per share. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had somewhat disappointing return on equity."

You can view the full analysis from the report here: TSN Ratings Report