Minnesota declared a state of emergency case because multiple stresses of bird flu have robbed farms.
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) stated in a press release that the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s (RFA) board of rural financial authority has established the crisis after three outbreaks.
These included aviation metapneumovirus (AMPV), a very pathogenic aviation influenza (HPAI), and the H5N1 flu virus.
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The state of emergency allows Minnesota farmers who have experienced brute losses to access funds through loans from zero-interest disasters, according to the upper source.
Fran Miron feeds his cows on his farm on September 5, 2019 in Hugo, Minnesota. Minnesota declared a state of emergency case because multiple stretch of bird flu robbed farms. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post per Getty Images)
A MDA spokesman confirmed with Fox News Digital that this statement is “a formality that the board of rural financial authority must take to open the disaster lending program to farmers.”
“The statement has no effect beyond that and affects no other funding or programs.”
The loan program provides funds for expenses not covered by insurance, according to the MDA, including replacement of herds or livestock, building improvements or loss of income due to explosions of animal diseases.
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Thom Petersen, Commissioner for Minnesota Agriculture, wrote in a statement that this is “an important step in helping Minnesota farmers affected by these three animal health diseases.”
“I encourage those who have faced brute losses to explore these zero-interest loans,” he added.
Aviana Metapneumovirus (AMPV) is a “very infectious respiratory disease”, which affects birds and can cause “significant immunos suppression” in birds, as well as secondary infections and high mortality, according to the MDA.
USDA workers disinfect a working crew at Jennie’s Turkey farm in Eden Valley, Minnesota, on April 30, 2015, in the middle of bird flu. (Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune by Getty Images)
Since April 2024, Minnesota has reported 871 AMPV positive tests, which is “probably sub -calculation”, health officials said.
HPAI – who is contagious, viral and fatal disease – also posed a “serious threat” to the bird – industry, reported MDA.
In Minnesota, there were 185 cases of HPAI confirmed since March 2022, affecting 9.1 million domestic birds, mostly turkeys.
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H5N1, also known as aviation flu or bird flu, causes the same virus in birds as HPAI, but can also affect milk cows and other animals.
Bird flu stresses have also spread to humans, including a milk worker in Nevada, which was infected by a new type (D1.1) last week, as reported by Fox News Digital.
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Sam Scarpino, Director of AI and Life Sciences and Professor of Health Sciences at the Northeast University in Boston, previously said he considers the ongoing US bird flu as “serious.”
Cases of bird flu have risen across the United States and infected some people. (istock)
“We now have at least two separate H5N1 stresses (like variants if we discussed Covid-19), which infected milk cattle, birds and people,” he told Fox News Digital. “The situation H5N1 in the United States continues to get worse, no better.”
Scarpino shared his approval of Dr. Gerald Parker’s recent choice to manage the White House office of pandemic preparation and corresponding policy.
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“His appointment signals that the federal government gives the H5N1 situation the attention it needs,” he said.
“From the perspective of both building agricultural costs and an ongoing risk of human infection, we must bring this H5N1 explosion under control.”
