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Minnesota Now with Nina Moini
Cathy Wurzer and Melissa Townsend

Bird flu spreads from flocks to raptors; what's next?

Matthias Millar, 5, foreground, and Sterling Millar, 7, hold chickens.
Matthias Millar, 5, foreground and Sterling Millar, 7, hold chickens outside their father’s house in Blue Mounds, Wis., on Sept. 18, 2020.
Coburn Dukehart | Wisconsin Watch 2020

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You’ve likely heard about the growing outbreak of bird flu. The latest report from the Minnesota Board of Animal Health says more than 2 million birds have been affected by Avian Influenza or bird flu. Most of these are large commercial flocks of turkeys and chickens but a couple of backyard flocks have been infected. Just today the University of Minnesota's Raptor Center in St. Paul confirmed that avian flu has killed 12 bald eagles, three red-tailed hawks and an entire nesting family of great horned owls living near Lake Nokomis.

Yesterday Gov. Walz talked with animal health experts in Willmar and said he hopes this bird flu outbreak won’t be as bad as the major outbreak of 2015.

How well does the state have this outbreak in hand? And how can Minnesotans help keep birds healthy? Cathy Wurzer talks about these questions and more with Jeff Bender. He is a professor at the University of Minnesota in Environmental Health Sciences and Director of the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center.