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Starting Monday, 30 National Guard soldiers and 15 military
water trucks from the Willmar, Minnesota-based 682nd Engineer
Battalion and the Brooklyn Park-based A Company, 134th Brigade
Support Battalion will be used, the center said in a statement.
Large volumes of water are needed for the foam-based systems
being used to cull flocks on infected turkey farms in a bid to
contain the spread of the H5N2 virus, the statement said.
The guard members will work through Wednesday as additional
water transport resources are identified.
The National Guard became available to be activated for such
efforts last week, after Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton declared
a state of emergency over the spread of the strain of avian flu,
which has lead to the extermination of more than 7.3 million
birds in the United States so far.
Minnesota's action followed a similar move by neighboring
Wisconsin a few days earlier.
The highly pathogenic H5N2 strain has been identified on 49
Minnesota farms in 17 counties and affected more than 2.6
million birds in the state, according to Minnesota state
officials.
(Reporting by P.J. Huffstutter; Editing by Mohammad Zargham and
Leslie Adler)
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