Minnesota’s poultry farmers are bracing for an influx of H5N1 avian influenza after officials announced the state’s first known case in four months last week. Veterinarian Jill Nezworski says lessons learned last season will mean a greater focus on preventing contact between flocks and wild birds as part of what she says is a new normal. The risk to humans is low, and the virus does not seem to be spreading between mammals, though it may need to mix with a low-virulence virus before the crisis eases, says Bryan Richards, emerging disease coordinator with the US Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center.
