Mallards, pintail, green-winged teal and lesser scaup are the four ducks most likely to carry the disease with geese and shore birds a less likely risk.

“We hope to sample 1,000 birds in Minnesota this summer,” Powell said. The birds don’t need to be killed to be tested. Swabs of fecal matter are collected and tested. Powell said most of the tests will be done on ducks that are caught as part of ongoing banding programs in Minnesota in which steel bands are put on their legs for research purposes.

Federal officials are likely to do testing of birds in the state as well.

Powell said the DNR does not anticipate asking waterfowl hunters to do anything different this fall because of the bird flu fears. “Just the normal things you should do anyway, like wearing gloves when you’re cleaning them and cooking them right,” Powell said. “It takes pretty extreme exposure to get flu from a bird.”

Federal officials are focusing on testing birds coming from Alaska. Migratory birds from Asia fly through Alaska and then down through North America.

Watching the flocks

While officials wait to see if the deadly flu shows up in wild birds, they have set plans to protect domestic bird flocks.

Small flocks, agriculture officials say, are more likely to come in contact with wild birds than those in large enclosed barns. They are telling people to feed their chickens under a roof to keep wild birds away from the food. People are also encouraged to watch birds for signs of sickness — lack of appetite, purple wattles, combs and legs, coughing or sneezing and diarrhea. Symptoms should immediately be reported to authorities.

The effort to protect domestic birds is particularly important to the state’s $1.5 billion turkey industry — Minnesota is the top turkey producer in the nation, raising 46.5 million birds annually.

Olson said the industry has in recent years moved to protect turkeys from coming into contact with wild birds. “When we used to raise turkeys outside, they came into contact with wild birds and got the flu. Now most are raised inside, and we’ve reduced that direct contact,” he said.

Turkey barns have mesh over windows and air vents to keep wild birds out.

The U.S. Agriculture Department has a plan to kill off any flock of turkeys or chickens where the deadly flu strain is suspected, even before tests are completed. Under the plan, if preliminary tests show the virus in a flock, it will be destroyed.

Owners of the birds will be paid market value for the birds — an effort at encouraging owners to report sick birds quickly.

Olson said the 400 member growers in his association understand the need for decisive action to contain any potential threat. He said his association is less concerned about individual flocks being killed than with the potential consumer reaction if the deadly bird flu arrives in the United States.

“The market is the biggest concern,” said Olson, noting the demand for turkey dropped considerably in other countries where the bird flu was detected.