Minnesota declares state of emergency as diseases cripple Midwestern farms

Fox News

18-02-2025

Minnesota has declared a state of emergency as multiple strains of bird flu have ravaged farms.
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) stated in a press release that the Minnesota Department of Agriculture's Rural Finance Authority (RFA) Board established the emergency following three outbreaks.
Those included avian metapneumovirus (aMPV), highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), and the H5N1 flu virus.
The state of emergency allows Minnesota farmers who have experienced livestock losses to access funds through zero-interest disaster recovery loans, according to the above source.
An MDA spokesperson confirmed with Fox News Digital that this declaration is a "formality the Rural Finance Authority Board must take in order to open up the Disaster Recovery Loan Program to farmers."
"The declaration has no impact 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 flocks or livestock, building improvements, or loss of revenue due to animal disease outbreaks.
Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen 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 livestock losses to explore these zero-interest loans," he added.
avian metapneumovirus (aMPV) is a "highly infectious respiratory disease" that affects poultry and can cause "significant immunosuppression" in birds, as well as secondary infections and high mortality, according to the MDA.
Since April 2024, Minnesota has reported 871 aMPV positive tests, which is "likely an undercount," health officials said.
HPAI — which is a contagious, viral and fatal disease — has also posed a "major threat" to the poultry industry, MDA reported.
In Minnesota, there have been 185 cases of HPAI confirmed since March 2022, affecting 9.1 million domestic birds, mostly turkeys.
H5N1, also known as avian influenza or bird flu, causes the same virus in poultry as HPAI, but can also affect dairy cows and other animals.
Bird flu strains have also spread to humans, including a dairy worker in Nevada who was infected by a new type (D1.1) last week, as Fox News Digital previously reported.
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Sam Scarpino, director of AI and life sciences and professor of health sciences at Northeastern University in Boston, previously said that he considers the ongoing U.S. bird flu outbreak as "serious."
"We now have at least two distinct H5N1 strains (akin to variants if we were discussing COVID-19) that have infected dairy cattle, poultry and humans," he told Fox News Digital. "The H5N1 situation in the U.S. continues to get worse, not better."
Scarpino shared his approval of the recent choice of Dr. Gerald Parker to run the White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy.
"His appointment signals that the federal government is giving the H5N1 situation the attention it needs," he said.
"From the perspective of both the building agricultural costs and continued risk of human infection, we have to bring this H5N1 outbreak under control."