DNR may test waterfowl blood for bird flu

Officials searching for answers to the state's avian influenza epidemic are considering adding blood testing of wild birds to their surveillance program.

Currently, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources collects wild bird droppings for flu testing. But those samples only show if a bird was infected at the time of testing. None of the more than 2,200 fecal samples tested so far have been positive for the virus.

The Minnesota Turkey Growers Association says the DNR should add blood testing because those results would reveal if migrating birds in Minnesota had ever encountered the virus.

The idea makes sense, although it would be challenging, said DNR Wildlife Resource Manager Lou Cornicelli.

He said it might be possible to collect blood samples during the agency's annual duck banding effort this summer, but added that he could not commit to the idea yet.

Turkey producers want to know how widely the virus is circulating in wild birds and blood tests would help answer that question, said Steve Olson, the turkey groups executive director.

"What that's going to tell us is whether there's antibodies in that blood," he said. "That basically means that bird, at some point, has been exposed to the virus."