Nearly a year after a wild bird infected with H5N1 avian flu may have transferred its viral load to a dairy cow in the Texas panhandle — resulting in the infection of more than 700 herds statewide and sickening at least 32 dairy workers — the state's agriculture. The Ministry announced on Friday that it will sample the nation's milk to test for the virus.
The Federal Order requires dairy farmers to collect and share samples of raw milk for testing – if requested – by the US Department of Agriculture. It also outlines a phased testing strategy that will allow federal agencies to track and monitor the disease.
The National Milk Testing Strategy, which calls for a new type of milk testing, is “an important part of our ongoing efforts to protect the health and safety of people and communities across the country,” according to a prepared statement from Xavier Becerra, US secretary of state. Human Services and Health.
Initially, the order will apply to only six states – California, Colorado, Michigan, Mississippi, Oregon and Pennsylvania.
Steve Lyle, a spokesman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture, said the order did not bring “changes to California. We are already doing this.”
While California, Colorado and Michigan all reported good herds, the other three did not. Test methods and investigations are already being carried out in the infected states – as well as in Pennsylvania, which in late November, began its own program “Monitoring Mass Milk Trials in Processing Plants”.
While Oregon has never had an outbreak of H5N1 in dairy cattle, it has reported the disease in commercial poultry, wild birds and, last month, two pigs.
Mississippi has about 50 herds in the state, each farm has 149 cows.
The new milking program is designed as a step-by-step program, with the ultimate goal of eradicating the disease from the nation's herds – a goal few epidemiologists or virologists think is, at this point, possible.
In the first phase, testing will take place in all milk processing facilities within a certain region, allowing the federal agency to determine where the virus resides and where it resides. The next phase will allow the federal agency to drill deeper by moving tests to bulk tanks.
If the virus is detected, the third phase starts to work, which triggers an even more granular investigation by identifying good farms and herds – allowing for “rapid response measures,” including biosecurity systems such as movement controls and contact tracing.
If, however, no virus is found in the state, the frequency of bulk tank testing will gradually decrease – from weekly to monthly to quarterly, assuming that state testing remains negative.
Finally, there is a fifth section, known as “Demonstrating Freedom from H5 in US Dairy Cattle.”
That's when, according to the statement, states can begin periodic sampling and testing “to demonstrate long-term absence from the national herd.”
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