An emergency team with the United States Department of Agriculture is set to help Minnesota respond to confirmed cases of avian flu.  The Minnesota Board of Animal Health confirmed over the weekend that H5N1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza had been found in poultry flocks in Mower, Meeker, and Stearns counties.  The virus affected commercial turkey flocks of 289-thousand animals in Meeker County and 24-thousand in Stearns.  The virus was detected in a backyard “mixed species” flock of 17 birds in Mower County.  Governor Walz’s office says the USDA team will help the state’s Agricultural Incident Management team to contain infected flocks, respond to infected sites, conduct disease surveillance, and coordinate logistics and finances between the state and federal agencies.