William Brangham:
But what happens when farmers do see signs that their birds might be sick?
Here at the Minnesota Poultry Testing Lab,scientists test about 100 samples a day for bird flu, using the same PCR process used for COVID tests.
Jerry Torrison directs the Veterinary Diagnostic Lab at the University of Minnesota, which jointly runs this facility with the state.
Dr. Jerry Torrison, University of Minnesota: Producers, veterinarians, animal health regulatory people have to decide the fate of a flock of birds. They have to decide if it’s negative. It’s business as usual. If it tests positive, if they have flu, then that flock is depopulated.
And they want to make those decisions as soon as they possibly can, so that everybody can respond accordingly.
