After two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, case numbers are finally on the decline, and many restrictions are being lifted. But Minnesota's poultry producers are on high alert for a different deadly virus: highly pathogenic avian influenza.
Back in 2015, 9 million birds in Minnesota were killed by the virus, or euthanized to slow its spread. It’s believed to be spread by migrating waterfowl in the spring. This year, it's already been detected in poultry flocks in South Dakota and Iowa.
Minnesota turkey and chicken growers say they’re employing lessons learned from 2015 to try to prevent another outbreak.
"It really taught us that the flocks that are located just outside our back door are vulnerable to a very highly efficient, lethal killer virus,” said Lynette Gessell, a Morrison County turkey farmer. “It really taught us that we needed to think about what we could do to protect our flocks."
Gessell, her husband John, their daughter and son-in-law own Thirteen Acres and Badger Creek farms west of Little Falls, where they raise light turkey hens for about 13 weeks before selling them to Jennie-O for processing.
The Gessell family has been raising turkeys for four generations. Even so, the swift and deadly outbreak of avian influenza seven years ago was a storm they hadn’t weathered before.
Lynette Gessell changes clothes and dons plastic coverings over her boots, then steps into a foot bath containing a disinfectant. The measures are aimed at preventing contamination before she enters a service room connected to one of the turkey barns.
The Gessells’ flocks were spared. But in nearby Stearns, Meeker and Kandiyohi counties, producers weren't so lucky.
"I just remember hearing that phone call and just kind of holding my breath a little bit,” Gessell said. “Here we are again. It's out there.”
Commercial poultry producers are now required to have biosecurity plans aimed at preventing the introduction of avian influenza into their flocks.
Those plans include measures such as maintaining a perimeter buffer to keep out unnecessary traffic, controlling rodents, cleaning up spilled feed that might attract wildlife and storing farm equipment inside sheds.
During high-risk times of the year — including spring, when migratory waterfowl are passing through — only essential workers are allowed in the barns.
"We try to keep anything away from the barns as much as possible,” Gessell said. “We don't want anything that might have virus attached to it close to the barns."
Even entering a service room connected to an empty turkey barn requires multiple steps, including donning coveralls and plastic boot coverings, and dunking each foot into a disinfectant bath.
Outside the single entrance to the barn is a "line of separation" — a physical barrier marked with red tape and yellow rope. It's a visual reminder to make sure no one is bringing any contamination into the barn, Gessell said.
"Do I have all the clothing removed that I don't need to have on when I enter the barn?” she said. “Do I have the proper footwear on? Have I put on my personal protective gear?"
Click here to see more...