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H5N1 detected in central Minnesota dairy herd

The H5N1 virus has been detected on a 600-head dairy farm in central Minnesota.

Michael Crusan with the Minnesota Board of Animal Health says it’s the first detection in livestock since last summer and was discovered during mandatory raw milk surveillance testing.

“Low and behold, that testing resulted in a positive detection in Stearns County. So we do have H5N1 in a dairy herd in Minnesota, I’ll say it’s back.”

He tells Brownfield the same farm was affected last summer and is one of only a handful of dairies in the state to test positive for H5N1.

“Being in Stearns County, it’s a place where we also have a lot of migratory birds that affect kind of our numbers when it comes to finding avian influenza and H5N1. So it’s appearing to be that it might be a hot spot.”

Crusan says the herd is under quarantine and reminds consumers there is no concern for the safety of the public milk supply because all milk sold in stores is pasteurized to kill bacteria and viruses including H5N1.