ST. PAUL — Beginning the week of Feb. 24, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, working with state government and industry partners, will begin sampling and testing raw cow’s milk for the H5N1 flu virus to identify where the virus is present, monitor trends, and prevent its spread to unaffected dairy herds and poultry flocks around the state.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Starting next week, the state of Minnesota will begin testing raw cow milk for highly pathogenic avian influenza in compliance with USDA regulations. Since last year, a total of nine cases of bird flu have been reported in cows across Minnesota.

Minnesota announced that it would begin testing the raw milk from its dairy cows to see if any of them have H5N1 bird flu beginning on Monday. The announcement comes after evidence suggested that there might be undetectible cases of bird flu spreading from cattle to humans across the U.