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The University of Minnesota is launching a project to track how highly pathogenic avian influenza is affecting the state’s wildlife.

Gov. Tim Walz recently approved more than $1.2 million for the fast-tracked project from the state’s Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, which receives proceeds from the state lottery. The funding is from an account set aside to address emerging or urgent environmental or health threats.

The avian influenza virus, known as H5N1, has continued to change and is infecting a growing number of mammal species, including humans, said Dr. Laura Molgaard, dean of the college of veterinary medicine.

"We cannot wait for this,” she said. “This is a very fast-moving train, not a slow-moving train. And so we need to be studying this from every angle, immediately."

Researchers in the university’s College of Veterinary Medicine will work with wildlife rehabilitators, tribal biologists and other partners across the state to collect 9,000 samples from a variety of birds and mammals.

The scientists will test the samples in the lab in St. Paul to determine whether the live virus is present. They also will analyze the genetic makeup of the viruses, to see whether they are viable and could infect other mammals or birds.

For years, scientists in the college have been studying the characteristics of the virus, which infects many host species and causes numerous symptoms in both domestic animals and wildlife, Molgaard said.

“The virus changes quickly,” she said. “We know what it did in 2015, and we know what it did in the most recent outbreak and what it has been doing since then, but it continues to change.”

While much study has focused on domestic poultry and wild birds, where the virus first circulated, less is known about how the virus acts or behaves in other species.

Dr. Arno Wuenschmann, a professor of veterinary pathology at the U of M, is one of the lead researchers. He called the virus a “ticking time bomb” for animal and human health that continues to spread in unforeseen patterns beyond birds to wild and domestic animals, including humans.

“We're going into our third year with this virus, and it is finding new niches that are entirely unexpected,” he said.

Since December, there’s been an uptick of H5N1 that’s killing trumpeter swans, geese and other waterfowl, and also has been detected in foxes and bears.

The surveillance should provide a better understanding of where the virus is spreading and what species it's affecting, Wuenschmann said. That should help experts develop better strategies for public health agencies and farmers to prevent the disease’s spread, he said.

“Even if you don't really care as much about wildlife as I do, there is certainly a big argument to be made that we should know where the virus is in the Minnesota landscape and how active it is there, to potentially be able to protect livestock or humans,” Wuenschmann said.

The researchers plan to continue the project until 2027.

Kirsti Marohn

Author

Researchers in the University of Minnesota’s College of Veterinary Medicine will work with wildlife rehabilitators, tribal biologists and other partners across the state to collect 9,000 samples from a variety of birds and mammals. 

University of Minnesota gets fast-tracked funding to survey wildlife for bird flu

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