By Jason Schoonover and the Associated Press

Mower County officials are calling for everyone from backyard farm hobbyists to large poultry producers to be on the lookout after several cases of a highly pathogenic avian flu have surfaced in Minnesota.

“Everybody should be watching and increasing their biosecurity during the disease outbreak,” said Mower County Emergency Management Coordinator Amy Lammey.

The H5N2 strain has been confirmed in nine farms in Minnesota, the country’s top turkey-producing state.

Lammey has been in touch with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Board of Animal Health, and Homeland Security and Emergency Management about the situation and feels the county is ready, should the avian flu be confirmed closer to or in Mower County.

“We are ready to assist whatever agency needs our help,” Lammey said.

Over 2013 and 2014, Lammey helped coordinate an initiative to prepare just such a situation. She coordinated an effort to plan for what would happen if an infectious animal disease was confirmed in the area. That effort culminated Sept. 30, 2014, with a state-coordinated, 18-county exercise simulating how counties would react if foot-and-mouth disease was confirmed in the area.

While the training simulated a hog disease, Lammey said the effort prepared officials to respond to any infectious animal diseases.

“It’s just a different type of animal,” she said.

Lammey said there are about 50 farms with feedlot permits to raise poultry animals in Mower County; however, she said that doesn’t mean all are still operational and it doesn’t count small hobby farms.

Though the nine confirmed cases have been at farms more than 150 miles away from Mower in Meeker, Pope, Lac Qui Parle, Nobles, Stearns and Kandiyohi counties. But four of the cases have had ties to Jennie-O Turkey Store, a division of Austin-based Hormel Foods Corp. that’s headquartered in Willmar and has a site in Faribault.

Earlier this week, it was reported there’s no evidence the H5N2 strain spread between the first seven Minnesota farms infected over the past month, according to state veterinarian Bill Hartmann. That means wild birds such as ducks and geese, which can carry the flu but aren’t sickened by it, could be responsible for its spread.

State workers planned to sample wild waterfowl droppings around the infected farms to test for the virus, said Michelle Carstensen, wildlife health program supervisor at the state Department of Natural Resources. They’re also watching for any reports of dead turkeys or birds of prey in the wild.

The state also planned to continue to monitor any poultry farm workers who had extensive contact with infected birds, said Joni Scheftel, public health veterinarian at the Minnesota Department of Health. She stressed that the public is “absolutely not at risk.”

Steve Olson, executive director of the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association, said the virus does not pose a food safety or human health risk, but biosecurity has been increased on turkey farms across the state. He told the Independent on Friday that extra precautions are being taken to ensure that vehicle tires and farm workers’ shoes are cleaned and disinfected.

Lammey suggested people visit the Minnesota Board of Animal Health for updates at www.bah.state.mn.us/avian-influenza.

To read more about the September 2014 exercise to plan for animal disease outbreaks, visit www.austindailyherald.com/?p=623562