USDA To Test Milk For H5N1

After bird flu has been detected in dairy cattle across the country, including here in the Northwest, there have been talks about the USDA testing milk samples to determine if H5N1 is present.  How would testing those samples work?

“We will first Test silos," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said last week.  "We'll go to processors who have accumulated significant amounts of milk product. We'll test that milk, so testing will give us an opportunity to get it maybe ahead, if you will.”

Vilsack added testing will begin in states with reported cases of H5N1 in dairy cattle, to get “a clear idea” whether the virus has expanded or not, and if biosecurity measures need to be addressed.  He added testing will eventually expand in tiered stages to all 50 states due to developments in California, Colorado and other states.

“We saw the state of Colorado institute a fairly aggressive testing regime and the result of that testing regime allowed them to identify precisely where the virus was to utilize a number of tools including advanced bio security and as a result, they are now virus free. So we see that that system of bio security identifying where the virus is and trying to contain it at least worked," Vilsack said.  "In the context of a Colorado at the same time we're seeing obviously where we have a more intense concentration of dairy operations in California. We're continuing to see more and more herds being impacted.”

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