Veterinarians are pushing USDA to move quickly in testing milk nationwide to get a handle on where the H5N1 virus is located so the outbreak can be better controlled.
The department announced last week it would begin conducting the tests, but it’s not clear when that will begin or exactly how it will be carried out. USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is working with vets and other stakeholders to come up with final guidance for the program.
In a statement, a USDA spokesperson said the department has “received significant interest from states who would like to have federal support for testing efforts, in addition to those who already have testing underway.” USDA plans to issue guidance “soon.”
Findings of the virus have ebbed and flowed during its path from Texas in March to an additional 14 states currently, most recently Utah. States where infected cows have been detected in the last 30 days also include California and Idaho.
“The bottom line is, it's incredibly difficult to understand fully a disease and control it, if you don't know where it is,” Fred Gingrich, executive director of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners, told Agri-Pulse.
“We have to do some more rigorous testing, And it's past due that that gets done,” he said.
AABP has been working with other veterinary associations to urge swift implementation of the program. “We would like this to be implemented within the next 30 days in at least the top 15 dairy states in the U.S.,” Gingrich said, with the remaining 35 states covered by the end of the year.
“I think that's doable,” Gingrich said. “We have the capacity; the labs can do it. [USDA has] got to figure out all the little logistical details to make sure that it goes smoothly.” He said Massachusetts and Colorado are testing all dairy farms, and “California is testing all premises within 10 kilometers of an infected premise.”
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U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack appeared to indicate last week that testing would start in states where the virus has been detected recently or where any herds have been infected. Details, however, are still being worked out.
RJ Karney, senior director of public policy at the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, said some states are eager to see the program rolled out while others are urging a more cautious approach.
The National Milk Producers Federation is working with a technical committee, including AABP and others, to provide advice to USDA on the program.
Jamie Jonker, NMPF"Our role here at National Milk is to work with dairy farmers, cooperatives and processors to help make any larger testing program work as smoothly as possible at the farmer, co-op and processor level," Chief Science Officer Jamie Jonker said. NMPF is satisfied that USDA has the legal authority to test milk at the farm level.
Critical to the effort is allaying dairy farmers’ concerns, Gingrich noted. “They're scared,” he said. “They want to stay in business. They don't want to get the disease. But I think producers have to understand this is incredibly important. We are causing deaths of millions of chickens and disease in tens of thousands of cows, and we have to get ahead of it. We all have to unite and say we're going to eliminate this virus from the nation's dairy herd.”
In announcing the program, Vilsack stressed the safety of food, in light of the detection of H5N1 in a backyard pig in Oregon late week, which was one factor in convincing USDA to roll out the testing program.
“Let's make sure everybody understands the milk is safe, the beef is safe, the pork is safe. There's no issue relative to the food supply at this point in time,” he said.
USDA said the strain of H5N1 on the Oregon farm "is not the strain that has been found in dairy cattle and other poultry facilities." While genetic sequencing for the pig is still underway, analysis of the poultry on the farm "indicates the virus is consistent with other strains associated with wild birds. It is H5N1, but not the strain that’s been associated with cows.”
USDA also said it was persuaded to announce the milk testing program following the success of Colorado’s program that began in July after detection of avian flu in dairy herds there. There currently are no active cases in the state.
The rapid increase in infected herds in California, the largest milk-producing state, also played a role in the department’s decision, Vilsack said.
The number of herds infected in the state has reached 233, more than half the nationwide total of 442.
Fred GingrichGingrich said USDA’s voluntary herd testing program, which began in May, has had limited success tracking the virus.
“Initially, we were trying to get farms to take part” in the voluntary program, he said, but that has not made a big impact on stopping the spread of the disease.
Sixty-four herds in 15 states are enrolled in the program. Nearly half of those — 31 — are in Michigan. Nine are in New Mexico, six in Pennsylvania and three each in California and Iowa. In the rest of the states, one or two herds are enrolled.
There are 27,000 dairy herds in the U.S.
The U.S. Animal Health Association also said in a resolution adopted last month that USDA’s April 25 order requiring testing of lactating dairy cows before they are moved to another state “is inadequate and overlooks risks that other classes of cattle pose to poultry."
USAHA “strongly” urged APHIS “to lead the coordination of all livestock sectors, state animal health officials, and public health officials to develop and implement a consistent and comprehensive strategy” to tackle avian flu.
An advantage of bulk tank testing that would reach every dairy farm in the U.S. is that the test “will detect one cow out of a full 8,000-gallon tanker of milk, and there's never just one cow affected. So that test is very good,” Gingrich said.
In addition, the test identifies the virus 10 to 14 days before cows show clinical signs of having H5N1.
“That's incredibly important,” Gingrich said, because then farmers can know their cows will get sick and can plan accordingly. “They can lock up on medication, make sure they have adequate labor resources, make sure that they have their animal movements in place,” and interview employees about where else they may work and whether they have cows or chickens at home or live with someone who works at another dairy or poultry operation.
Other groups have been involved in the effort, including the American Association of Swine Veterinarians, American Veterinary Medical Association, U.S. Animal Health Association, state animal health associations and laboratory diagnosticians, Gingrich said.
AASV said its position is that “surveillance in any disease outbreak is important to help determine prevalence, distribution, pathogen movement, and disease burden. Continued surveillance and sample submissions are critically important. AASV is working proactively with other swine industry organizations, animal health officials, and others to support our ongoing surveillance program and develop response strategies.”
The National Chicken Council also backs the effort. “We support testing as we need to know where the virus is,” NCC spokesperson Tom Super said.
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