Hundreds of Canadian geese have been found dead this winter in Owatonna, Albert Lea, Waseca and other southern Minnesota cities.

The experiment of whether H5 can ever be successful in human populations is happening before our eyes,” Seema Lakdawala, a flu virologist at Emory University, told me. “And we are doing nothing to stop it.

By Cathy Wurzer and Gracie Stockton Bird flu, or avian influenza, has spread far beyond commercial and backyard poultry flocks, and is now affecting other animals like cows and humans. The virus is now also sickening wild birds.

Nancy Gibson, co-chair of the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources, called the virus a "time bomb," and said no one knows the true extent of the disease which poses a threat to wildlife and humans.

Health officials in Louisiana are reporting the first human death linked to bird flu in the U.S. Here in Minnesota, state lottery ticket purchases could help combat the spread of the virus. Gov. Tim Walz recently approved more than $1.

ST. PAUL, MINN. – Minnesota is approving the allocation of more than $1.2 million in lottery proceeds for the research of avian influenza in wildlife. This funding will support researchers at the University of Minnesota’s College of Veterinary Medicine as they study the growing threat posed by avian influenza.