ST. PAUL — Lawmakers and wildlife experts have set aside $1.27 million in state funds to help monitor the highly pathogenic avian influenza, known as “bird flu,” in Minnesota wildlife.
Gov. Tim Walz approved funds ON Friday, Jan. 3, from the lottery-generated Environment and Natural Resources Fund for researchers at the University of Minnesota’s College of Veterinary Medicine to study the flu. The funding proposal was made by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources, a bipartisan committee of 10 lawmakers and seven citizens who decide where the funds from the state’s Environment and Natural Resources are allocated.
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A release from the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources said the University of Minnesota’s researchers will partner with the Humane Society and other organizations in the state to ramp up testing and better understand the threat of the bird flu beyond Minnesota's wild and domestic bird populations.
“Rapidly evolving threats like HPAI don't go on hiatus between funding cycles,” said Nancy Gibson, co-chair of the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources. “We are grateful that the LCCMR can provide Minnesota's wildlife professionals with timely support ... that allows them to do what they do best — putting their expertise to work bolstering Minnesota's immune system against HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza).”
Project lead Dr. Arno Wuenschmann with the University of Minnesota called bird flu a “ticking time bomb” for animal and human health, according to the release. Previous outbreaks typically ended in months, but the current outbreak of bird flu is two years in and has spread beyond birds to domestic and wild mammals in Minnesota, including dairy cows, red foxes, black bears and domestic cats, as well as humans, the release said.
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