ST. PAUL — Test results from the first year of a study indicate that ruffed grouse in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan can survive the West Nile virus.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources on Tuesday reported that samples from grouse shot by hunters last year found antibodies consistent with West Nile in about 13 percent of the birds sampled in Minnesota and Michigan, and 29 percent in Wisconsin. But only a few sampled birds were still sick.