The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has ordered the nation’s milk supply tested for bird flu. The December 6 guidance is designed to “facilitate comprehensive H5N1 surveillance of the nation’s milk supply and dairy herds,” according to a press release.
The order requires dairy farms, milk transporters, stations, and dairy processing facilities to share milk samples. It also requires herd owners with cattle testing positive for the virus to “provide epidemiological information that enables activities such as contact tracing and disease surveillance,” the release explained. The order further requires that private labs and state veterinarians report data from raw milk samples to the USDA.
The first round of testing will be conducted in California, Colorado, Michigan, Mississippi, Oregon, and Pennsylvania.
“Since the first [highly pathogenic avian influenza] detection in livestock, USDA has collaborated with our federal, state and industry partners to swiftly and diligently identify affected herds and respond accordingly. This new milk testing strategy will build on those steps to date and will provide a roadmap for states to protect the health of their dairy herds,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement. “Among many outcomes, this will give farmers and farmworkers better confidence in the safety of their animals and ability to protect themselves, and it will put us on a path to quickly controlling and stopping the virus’ spread nationwide. USDA is grateful to our partners who have provided input to make this strategy effective and actionable, and we look forward to continued collaboration in seeing this through.”
Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the first-ever U.S. case of avian influenza A, commonly known as bird flu, in a child residing in California. The child experienced mild symptoms and is recovering after receiving treatment with antiviral medication. Initial testing showed low levels of the H5N1 virus, but subsequent tests found no trace of the bird flu.
Instead, the child tested positive for other common respiratory viruses, indicating a possible mixed infection, according to the CDC.
