Dairy cows are fed on a farm near Bado, New Mexico, on March 31, 2017. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that cows in multiple states have tested positive for avian influenza.
Rodrigo Abdo/AP
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Rodrigo Abdo/AP
Dairy cows are fed on a farm near Bado, New Mexico, on March 31, 2017. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that cows in multiple states have tested positive for avian influenza.
Rodrigo Abdo/AP
Livestock at multiple dairy farms across the U.S. have tested positive for avian influenza, also known as highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), which is likely to spread to at least five states. .
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service confirmed Friday that cattle in Texas, Kansas and Michigan have been infected with the virus, with additional herds in New Mexico and Idaho also testing presumptive positive. did.
According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, this is the first time the disease has been detected in dairy cows.
The case occurred days after a group of baby goats at a farm in Minnesota became infected with avian influenza.
Avian influenza infects the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts of birds and is often fatal to birds. It can spread from wild birds to poultry and backyard flocks, terrestrial and marine mammals, and humans.
Government officials say the risk to the public from the current outbreak remains low. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most human infections in the past occurred after people had “unprotected exposure to infected diseased or dead poultry.” And officials say the strain of the virus detected in Michigan is similar to strains found in Texas and Kansas, and early tests do not show any changes that would make it more transmissible to humans. It has been shown that there is no such thing.
Federal and state officials say the surge in bird flu infections shouldn't have a dramatic impact on dairy consumers.
“Understanding the details of the transmission of avian viruses to livestock is a top priority for animal health experts and agricultural officials,” Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said in a statement. “While alarming, this outbreak is not currently expected to threaten our nation's commercial dairy supply.”
There is little impact on consumers so far.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the domestic commercial dairy supply is safe and no milk recalls are necessary.
The reason is that dairy farms must divert or destroy milk from affected animals, and only milk from healthy cows can be processed for human consumption.
Additionally, the pasteurization required for milk entering interstate commerce kills bacteria and viruses, including influenza.
The Food and Drug Administration says there is limited information available about the transmission of avian influenza from unpasteurized raw milk. The agency has long warned people to avoid raw milk, saying it harbors dangerous bacteria and can make consumers sick.
Federal officials say milk losses from sick dairy cows are too limited to significantly impact commercial supply, which typically increases in the spring as seasonal production increases. do. No increase in dairy prices is expected due to the pandemic, they added.
How regulators and farmers are working to stop the spread
USDA believes the dairy cows were sickened by a strain called H5N1 (Eurasian goose/Cantonese clade 2.3.4.4b), which it believes was likely introduced by wild birds. Pigeons, blackbirds, and grackles were seen on affected Texas farms.
But federal officials have not ruled out the possibility of cow-to-cow transmission. This comes after a Michigan farm recently received a shipment of cattle from an affected Texas farm before the cattle showed signs of illness, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development announced Friday. did.
The USDA said cows with avian influenza at the affected dairy farms “recovered after isolation, and few related deaths were reported.”
Federal and state authorities continue to test samples of sick livestock and unpasteurized milk.
The USDA also requires farmers and their veterinarians to practice “appropriate biosecurity,” including restricting animal movement, testing livestock before moving them, and isolating sick cattle. is recommended.
