Over $1 million in Minnesota Lottery proceeds to go to researching bird flu in the state
MINNEAPOLIS — Health officials in Louisiana reported the first human death linked to bird flu in the United States just days after Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz approved more than $1.2 million to research avian influenza in wildlife.
The funding stems from a ballot question brought forth to voters in the November election. By an overwhelming majority, 77% voted in favor of directing 40% of the state's lottery proceeds toward the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund.
The newly approved money will go to researchers at the University of Minnesota's College of Veterinary Medicine to study the emerging threat of avian influenza. Partnering with a network of wildlife rehabilitators and tribal biologists, they will collect and test samples from wild birds and mammals for the virus.
"I have no doubt that we are just sitting on the edge of this disease, this virus," said Nancy Gibson, co-chair of the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources.
Gibson called the virus a "time bomb," and said no one knows the true extent of the disease, which poses a threat to wildlife and humans.
"Here, we're seeing foxes, sometimes a whole den of fox kits have been killed, we're seeing it in bears, we're seeing it in bobcats, so it's gone far beyond the realm of avian birds, waterfowl and raptors," Gibson said.
Professor Arno Wuenschmann will be working on the project and said they plan to post weekly results online.
"There are hot spots, as we have found out, and it's good for farmers, for health agencies to know where those are at certain times of the year," he said.
Besides offering statewide monitoring, they will also study how the virus is adapting.
"We should be on the watch-out for any mutations that would potentially enable this to also get into humans," he said.
Gibson hopes the work can be used as a model around the country.
"Other states aren't doing this. We're the trendsetter here in Minnesota," she said.
