State and Federal Experts Gathered in Willmar to Discuss How to Fight Bird Flu

(KNSI) — Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith joined experts Tuesday at a roundtable discussion in Willmar to learn about the state’s ongoing efforts to fight bird flu.

Minnesota Board of Animal Health Executive Director Dr. Beth Thompson says waterfowl carry avian influenza and likely spread it through spring migration. Dr. Thompson says the virus thrives in cold, wet environments. Our recent weather has made for an ideal environment for H5N1. The outbreak will likely subside once the environment warms up and dries out. During the roundtable, experts described it as a “popcorn like effect” where the virus pops up and spreads in one place before it pops up and spreads in another. The first cases of bird flu were discovered in Indiana in February. It was initially detected in Minnesota in Meeker and Mower Counties on March 25th. There are 27 states now reporting bird flu outbreaks.

Governor Walz says that the state is in much better shape now to fight H5N1 than in 2015, when more than nine million birds were lost. An emergency response team from the U.S. Department of Agriculture is deployed in the area to help mitigate and contain the spread. The legislature approved a million dollars in emergency funding for fighting bird flu earlier this month. According to state Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen, more help is on the way in the drought relief bill, which reportedly has funding for affected farms and producers attached to it.

The highly pathogenic avian influenza hasn’t created any food safety risks for consumers, but it has affected almost two million birds at 40 sites around the state.

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