As Diseases Destroy Farms Across the Midwest, Minnesota Announces a State of Emergency

Farmers in Minnesota have been hit hard by various strains of bird flu, so the state has declared a state of emergency.

In a news release, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) said that the emergency was set up by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Rural Finance Authority (RFA) Board after three outbreaks.

These were the H5N1 flu virus, avian metapneumovirus (aMPV), and highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).

According to the source above, the state of emergency lets Minnesota farmers who have lost animals get money through disaster recovery loans with no interest.

The MDA told Fox News Digital that this statement is “something the Rural Finance Authority Board has to do in order to let farmers into the Disaster Recovery Loan Program.”

“The declaration has no impact beyond that and affects no other funding or programs.”

According to the MDA, the loan program helps pay for things that insurance doesn’t cover, like replacing flocks or livestock, making changes to buildings, or losing money because of animal diseases.

Thom Petersen, the agriculture commissioner for Minnesota, said in a statement that this is a “important step in helping Minnesota farmers who are affected by these three animal health diseases.”

“I encourage those who have faced livestock losses to explore these zero-interest loans,” he said.

“Highly infectious respiratory disease” avian metapneumovirus (aMPV) affects livestock and can lead to “significant immunosuppression” in birds, as well as secondary infections and high mortality, according to the MDA.

Minnesota has had 871 aMPV-positive tests since April 2024. Health officials say this number is “likely an undercount.”

MDA said that HPAI, a disease that is spread by viruses and can kill, has also been a “major threat” to the poultry business.

HPAI has been found in 185 birds in Minnesota since March 2022. These birds are mostly turkeys and are part of 9.1 million household birds.

Bird flu, also called H5N1, is caused by the same virus as HPAI in chickens. It can also infect dairy cows and other animals.

Strains of bird flu have also been found in people. For example, a dairy worker in Nevada got a new type (D1.1) last week, as Fox News Digital noted.

Northeastern University in Boston’s Sam Scarpino, who is in charge of AI and life sciences and teaches health sciences, has said before that he thinks the current bird flu outbreak in the U.S. is “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. “The H5N1 situation in the U.S. continues to get worse, not better.”

Scarpino said that he agreed with Dr. Gerald Parker being chosen to lead 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 noted.

“From the perspective of both the building agricultural costs and continued risk of human infection, we have to bring this H5N1 outbreak under control.”