A popular event at the Minnesota State Fair, which features an array of baby farm animals and their mothers, will go ahead this year — but without the birthing of cows like fear of bird flu causing unrest within the dairy farming industry.
Officials with the state’s agriculture industry said Thursday that fair organizers will ban cows and calves from the popular Miracle of Birth Center, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. The move is a precaution as bird flu continues to spread to mammals, including dairy cattle.
The exhibit will still feature pairs of dairy cows and calves, but the calves will be weaned and the cows will not produce milk, said Kelly Andrews, executive director of the Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association, one of the exhibit’s organizers.
The decision came on the same day that the University of Minnesota’s Extension and College of Veterinary Medicine released a report advising show organizers against holding physical dairy cow shows for fear of further spreading H5N1.
The Minnesota Board of Animal Health this summer required dairy cattle to be tested before they could be shown at county fairs. Some fairs went a step further, canceling dairy cattle shows or moving to virtual shows.
Since June, H5N1 infections have been reported in nine dairy herds in Minnesota. Industry observers say the statewide count is likely an undercount because testing is not mandatory.
The outbreak in dairy cows in the US is leading to the development of new, next-generation mRNA vaccines – similar to COVID-19 vaccines – that are being tested in both animals and humans.
