9 more turkey farms infected with bird fluHUNTINGBURG, Ind. — Turkeys tested positive for bird flu at nine more Indiana farms near the location where authorities first confirmed a strain different from the one that ravaged the U.S. poultry industry last summer, Indiana authorities said.Farmers began euthanizing turkeys at the new farms even before final results of whether the birds were infected with the H7N8 strain, said Denise Derrer, spokesman for the Indiana State Board of Animal Health. Final results are expected soon.The nine farms are located in Dubois County, about 70 miles from Louisville. All of the new infections are within a quarantine area set up around the first farm and that area has been expanded to four neighboring Indiana counties.Confirmation of new bird flu cases alarmed industry officials after the rapid spread of the H5N2 virus last year led to the deaths of about 48 million turkeys and chickens, and drove egg prices higher.“We are very concerned and trying to figure out strategies to contain it,” Derrer said.

WhatsApp plans to drop renewal feesMENLO PARK, Calif. — WhatsApp, a popular mobile messaging service owned by Facebook, says it will drop its 99-cent subscription fee over the next several weeks.The company said Monday that charging the fee after one free year hasn’t worked well.It says many users don’t have a credit or debit card and are afraid of losing the service when it’s time to renew.WhatsApp says nearly a billion people around the world use the service.Company officials say they don’t plan to introduce ads to offset the loss of fees. They say they will start testing tools this year to let customers communicate with banks and other businesses and organizations, but they aren’t providing details.Facebook paid $22 billion to buy the service in 2014.

Max & Erma’s closes 13 restaurantsNASHVILLE, Tenn. — Restaurant chain Max & Erma’s is closing 13 Midwest locations as it streamlines operations and deals with underperforming outlets.The owner, Nashville, Tennessee-based American Blue Ribbon Holdings, says senior managers went to the restaurants in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana on Monday morning to deliver the news.The chain’s website listed 51 locations in 10 states.The restaurants serve burgers and beer. The first one opened in 1972 in Columbus, Ohio. The chain filed for bankruptcy protection in 2009. American Blue Ribbon bought it the next year.The parent company also owns O’Charley’s and other casual-dining chains.