ST. PAUL, Minn. - As North America watches and waits for a virulent strain of avian flu, state commissioners and House Democrats warned Tuesday that Minnesota's preparations are in danger of being shortchanged.

Health officials worldwide worry that the H5N1 avian flu could mutate into a strain that could spread easily among humans. If that happens, it could touch off the first global flu pandemic in decades - killing 30,000 Minnesotans under the worst-case scenario.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty requested $10.5 million a year for three years for avian and pandemic flu readiness, but the House health bill includes only $1 million and the Senate version contains $2.5 million. Officials say they need full funding to prepare adequately for what could become a major public health crisis.

"We're going to continue to prepare whether we get money or not - that's our job," Public Safety Commissioner Michael Campion said at a media briefing. "But it's clear that we will not be able to get to the level that collectively professionals at this table and others across the country suggest that we ought to be."

Meanwhile, Rep. Tom Huntley, DFL-Duluth, said lawmakers should jump on the issue and approve Pawlenty's three-year budget request - $31.5 million - this year. He said the state needs to start buying antiviral drugs, face masks and other supplies, and speed up preparations.

"Minnesota's not prepared," said House Minority Leader Matt Entenza, DFL-St. Paul.

Rep. Fran Bradley, R-Rochester and chair of the House Health Policy and Finance Committee, acknowledged the issue's importance and said the House plan is all the state can afford in this nonbudget year. In the event of a full-scale emergency, even the governor's proposal wouldn't provide enough money, he said.

"If we get a full-fledge, worst scenario situation, we are just going to have to turn into an emergency machine," Bradley said. "… When the time comes that you would have to react to an emergency, we would have to find ways to react."

Sen. Becky Lourey, chair of the Senate Health and Family Security Policy Committee, said the Senate measure includes all the money the governor recommended from the general fund.

"The governor wants to take money from the Health Care Access Fund, and 100,000 Minnesotans have lost their health coverage since 2001, and they need their health coverage if they get the flu as well," said Lourey, DFL-Kerrick.

Wild birds are expected to bring the disease to the United States as they migrate. Avian flu hasn't developed the ability to spread easily among humans, but officials say it could mutate. A contagious human strain could set off a global pandemic.

State officials outlined some of their preparations Tuesday:

3 Wild birds. Monitoring of wild birds for avian flu will start in Minnesota this fall, said Gene Merriam, commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources. The DNR is developing guidelines for handling dead birds and will step up avian flu surveillance through normal bag checks during the fall hunting season.

"We don't expect to see it this summer," Merriam said. "We think a greater likelihood for the first showing is in the fall when the return migration is coming, and even a small likelihood then."

3 Domestic flocks. Preparations by the Agriculture Department and the Board of Animal Health focus on keeping avian flu out of domestic flocks. Agriculture Commissioner Gene Hugoson said avian flu could hit the $1.5 billion turkey industry in the pocketbook if it arrives.

Most domestic flocks in Minnesota are kept indoors, lowering their risk of contracting flu from wild birds. The Agriculture Department is also urging free range poultry farmers to feed their flocks under a shelter so wild birds won't be attracted, potentially spreading the disease.

Poultry owners have to report disease outbreaks to the Board of Animal Health, which sends specialists to collect and test samples. If the specimens tested positive for H5N1, the flock would be destroyed, said Dr. Bill Hartmann, the board's executive director.

Proper cooking of poultry destroys the bird flu virus, Hugoson added.

3 Humans. A network of clinics, hospitals and laboratories throughout Minnesota are the first line of detection for pandemic flu in humans, said Dr. Harry Hull, the state epidemiologist. Hull says he doesn't expect a human strain of avian flu to make its first appearance here.