ST. PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota Board of Animal Health officials aren’t surprised that highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is back in the state this spring.
Senior poultry Veterinarian Dr. Shauna Voss said there’s no way to tell how severe it will be this year.
“It’s difficult to predict how a virus will behave,” Voss said. “We do know that the virus never went away and continues to survive in our wild populations.”
Voss said biosecurity is the key to preventing the spread of HPAI. She said producers need to protect their flock from contact with wild waterfowl.
“We know that any bird that’s got feathers on it is potentially susceptible to this virus,” Voss said. “So, it doesn’t seem – at least the virus we had in 2022 – it didn’t seem to discriminate against small hobby flocks versus larger commercial operations.”
Voss said 110 flocks in Minnesota were infected with HPAI last year and about a quarter of them were in backyard flocks.
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