MN Board of Animal Health Prepares for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza

(KDLM) – Officials with the Minnesota Board of Animal Health are preparing for another possible outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza.

“We’re fully expecting that during the spring migration period which hopefully will be coming up soon if spring decides to join us this year,” says Senior poultry veterinarian Doctor Shauna Voss. “We’ll be needing to keep our eyes open and be alert and be prepared for any virus that might be coming with that.

Voss says 110 flocks in Minnesota were infected with avian influenza last year. She’s encouraging producers to make sure they have biosecurity measures in place to protect their flocks.

“Since March of 2022 about a quarter of those detections were in backyard flocks,” says Voss. “And if you compare that to what we experienced in 2015 when we also had a total of 110 infected flocks, only one of those was a backyard flock.”

Voss says that suggests the state’s poultry industry learned a great deal about how to protect their flocks. She says there are simple biosecurity measures that can be implemented to prevent indirect contact with wild waterfowl.