By Leah Douglas and Tom Polansek
(Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture last spring weakened an emergency order aimed at preventing the spread of bird flu among the country’s dairy cattle, after pushback from state and industry officials, according to state and federal data seen by Reuters .
The communications, which have not previously been reported, show how the early federal response to the U.S. avian flu outbreak was shaped in part by industry interests reluctant to cooperate with burdensome regulations, and may have contributed to transmission of the disease across state lines.
The USDA order, issued in April after cases of bird flu were discovered in cows in eight states, requires milk-producing dairy cattle moving across state lines to receive a negative bird flu test no sooner than seven days before travel. It also allows non-producing livestock headed for slaughter to cross state lines without a health certificate from a veterinarian.
The USDA had initially considered stricter requirements, including a three-day testing period, but responded to industry feedback urging leniency before releasing the order, according to documents in the filing request.
Relaxing the order may have allowed more spread of the virus, two veterinarians and a dairy industry representative told Reuters. They noted logistical limitations in testing animals in the shorter time frame.
When the agency issued the April 24 order, 33 herds had tested positive. The outbreak has since grown to more than 330 herds in 14 states and human cases among 17 dairy workers.
“Any changes or clarifications in the Federal Order have been made with the goal of protecting animal and public health by following scientific best practices, using the best available data, and ensuring the appropriate balance between compliance and feasibility for producers,” said a USDA spokesperson. in an email.
The agency has conducted more than 16,000 pre-movement tests and is supporting an investigation in California into whether improper livestock movement introduced the virus into the state, the spokesperson said.
The rapid spread of bird flu among dairy herds and infections of 27 people this year have alarmed some public health experts, who say the USDA is not responding aggressively enough.
The order remains the only national requirement to combat the transmission of the virus.
MEMOS AND MEETINGS
USDA chief veterinarian Rosemary Sifford met with the Livestock Marketing Association on the morning of April 24 to discuss the planned federal decision, according to a memo the industry group sent to USDA officials and was released in a public records request.
“The 72-hour window prior to the move that we have heard is being considered is simply not feasible,” wrote Chelsea Good, LMA vice president of government and industry affairs, suggesting instead a testing period of 7 to 14 days.
The agricultural association did not include a time frame for testing in the original order, nor did it issue additional information on April 25. Guidance released on April 26 gave dairies seven days to test.
In an ideal world, testing would occur within 24 hours, said Keith Poulsen, a veterinarian and director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. The rural location of dairy farms makes it difficult to transport samples to a laboratory, he added.
The same week in April, animal health officials told the USDA to allow states to agree on alternative documentation in lieu of a veterinary health certificate for non-lactating dairy cows moving across state lines for slaughter , the data shows. Older dairy cattle are often processed into ground beef.
In the April 26 guidance, USDA said states could accept alternative documentation, which could include basic information such as addresses of livestock owners and shippers.
Requiring veterinary documents is too expensive for dairies that operate on thin margins, said Bob Seiler, president of the Central Equity Milk Cooperative in Kansas. He said he is not required to provide alternative documentation when sending non-lactating cows to slaughter.
Bypassing veterinary approval could have allowed the virus to spread further, said Gail Hansen, a former Kansas state veterinarian.
“The chance of something slipping through the net is much greater,” she says.
A shortage of rural veterinarians could make it difficult for farmers to get their flocks inspected before each shipment, Poulsen said.
The USDA spokesperson said cows going to slaughter are considered at lower risk for the spread of bird flu and alternative documentation allows for traceability if infections are present.
‘No benefit to testing’
California is investigating how the virus entered the state, including whether cow imports met legal requirements, the state Agriculture Department said. More than 130 herds and 13 dairy workers in the top dairy state have been infected since the end of August.
Even before the federal decision, the agriculture industry leaned on government officials to fend off calls for restrictions on livestock movement, data obtained by Reuters shows.
In a March 26 email, Kansas Farm Bureau CEO Terry Holdren asked Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Mike Beam and Justin Smith, the state’s animal health officer, if they could exert “any influence or pressure” to make Nebraska accept cattle, after If you hear Nebraska, it can drive cattle away.
Nebraska began requiring a permit to breed female dairy cows from other states on April 1.
Farmers have avoided testing cows in some cases.
“There is no benefit to a dairy producer reporting and testing,” said Rick Naerebout, CEO of the Idaho Dairymen’s Association.
