Minnesota farmers remain on guard after Michigan worker tests positive for bird flu

A Michigan dairy farm worker has recovered from mild eye symptoms after testing positive for bird flu, marking the second case documented in humans in the United States.

Farmers two states to the west in Minnesota, remain on guard about the possibility of high-path avian influenza infecting dairy herds or farm workers. There's also ongoing concern in the state's nation-leading large turkey industry.

"Still no positive results in Minnesota's dairy herds," said Michael Crusan, spokesman for the Minnesota Board of Animal Health (BAH). However, a slew of positive cases in poultry and commercial egg laying flocks were detected over the weekend, stirring concern.

On Tuesday alone, a flock of 1.3 million birds in Meeker County, a 51,000-bird flock in Morrison County, and flocks of 22,000 birds and 7,500 birds in Stearns County all turned up positive tests confirmed by BAH.

At present, there are 160 total infected sites across the state. Nearly 8 million birds statewide have become infected since the start of the H5N1 outbreak in 2022.

Prior to the most recent batch of infections, there'd only been five flocks to break sick in all of 2024, according to data kept by BAH.

Lucas Sjostrom, executive director of the Minnesota Milk Producers, said the state's dairy farmers continue to "closely watch and learn" about transmission of bird flu to dairy herds.

"At the farm level, as you can imagine, dairy farmers always make the health and safety of their cows a top priority, including biosecurity protocols," Sjostrom said in an email.

Bird flu has presented mild cases of eye irritation in the two U.S. workers infected. Currently, 52 herds in nine state have tested positive for bird flu, according to data kept by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Unlike birds, cattle can recover from the illness. Health officials say pasteurized milk sold in grocery stores remains safe to drink.