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 The highly pathogenic H5N2 strain of bird flu has been identified
on 46 Minnesota farms in 16 counties and affected more than 2.6
million birds in the state.
State health officials said they were expediting prescriptions for
the antiviral drug Tamiflu for farm workers and others who have been
in direct contact with infected flocks. No human infections have
been reported in this outbreak.
"There's no reason for anybody in the state of Minnesota to be
concerned about their own health," Governor Mark Dayton said at a
press conference on Thursday after declaring the state of emergency.
Federal and local public health authorities have said the risk of
human infection is low.
The state's action to provide antiviral drugs follows
recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC).
Minnesota's health department approached 140 farm workers and others
who had been in direct contact with infected birds and advised 87 of
them to take the Roche antiviral medication as a preventative
measure, the department's spokesman Michael Schommer said. Seventy
of them took the drug, he said.
 Of the 62 people that state health officials have followed up with
so far, none have been infected by the virus, Schommer said.
VIRUS SPREADS QUICKLY
The virus can kill nearly an entire infected flock within 48 hours.
Millions of turkeys and chickens are in quarantine waiting to be
culled and large flocks have already been destroyed.
Officials have said they believe wild birds are spreading the virus
but they do not know how it is entering barns.
Two bird flu strains have been discovered in the United States this
year. The H5N2 strain is in Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas,
Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota,
Washington and Wisconsin. It has also been identified on farms in
Ontario, Canada.
The H5N8 strain has been identified in California and also in Idaho,
U.S. Department of Agriculture data showed.
Iowa, the top U.S. egg-producing state, said on Monday that a lethal
strain of bird flu had been found in hens at an egg-laying facility
near the city of Harris run by Sunrise Farms, an affiliate of
Sonstegard Foods Company. The company said the facility houses 3.8
million hens.
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"We went to great lengths to prevent our birds from contracting AI
(avian influenza), but despite best efforts we now confirm many of
our birds are testing positive," Sonstegard said.
Hormel Foods Corp, based in Minnesota, said this week that the
virulent strain of avian influenza may drag its fiscal 2015 earnings
toward the lower end of forecasts.
The virus has been identified at a facility west of Minneapolis that
is owned by a subsidiary of Hormel. Minnesota is the largest
turkey-producing state in the country.
ACTIONS BEING TAKEN
Minnesota's Dayton said he had authorized the National Guard to be
called up for duty if needed.
In Wisconsin on Monday, Governor Scott Walker declared a state of
emergency after three poultry flocks became infected in the past
week, his office said. A state spokeswoman said guardsmen would
disinfect trucks exiting infected facilities.
In Minnesota, researchers are investigating the virus' spread,
testing animal feed and conducting experiments to see if the virus
is being carried onto farms by windborne dirt, dust or feathers,
state officials said on Thursday.
The CDC said on Wednesday that H5N2 is genetically different from
the H5N1 bird flu virus that has spread from birds to humans in the
past.
On Tuesday, Mexico, the biggest buyer of U.S. chicken, halted
imports of live birds and eggs from Iowa.
(Reporting By P.J. Huffstutter. Additional reporting by Julie
Steenhuysen.; Editing by Bernard Orr, Toni Reinhold)
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