Poultry producers wary of bird flu’s return to Minnesota

Minnesota’s poultry producers are monitoring cases of bird flu found in wild birds in other parts of the United States and Canada.

A state veterinarian says it’s an early warning for producers in Minnesota ahead of the spring waterfowl migration. Minnesota Board of Animal Health senior veterinarian Shauna Voss says it’s just a matter of time before the virus arrives in Minnesota.

According to the state Agriculture Department, Minnesota has about 550 commercial turkey operations and more than 3,000 poultry farms.

In a 2015 outbreak of avian influenza, about 9 million birds in Minnesota and 50 million across the country where killed by the virus, or euthanized in an effort to slow the spread of the disease.