By Leah Douglas
(Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture will soon begin testing bulk raw milk nationwide for bird flu, a significant expansion of the agency’s efforts to suppress the rapid spread of the virus, Agriculture Secretary told Tom Vilsack to Reuters.
The move comes after livestock and veterinary groups pushed the USDA to strengthen its current surveillance approach, calling it inadequate to contain the virus, according to state data and industry documents reviewed by Reuters.
The agency will begin sampling milk in early November in states where dairy cattle have contracted bird flu, including testing specific farms as needed to track the spread of the virus, Vilsack said in an interview.
USDA will then begin testing in states that have not identified the virus in dairy cows, he said.
The rapid spread of the virus in California, where nearly 200 dairy herds have tested positive since late August, contributed to the USDA’s decision that further surveillance efforts are needed, Vilsack said.
“These situations evolve over time and as they evolve over time, there needs to be a recalibration and adjustment,” Vilsack added.
The efforts complement an emergency order issued in April that requires testing of livestock moving across state lines and a USDA program that covers farmers’ costs for voluntary testing. Reuters previously reported that USDA had softened these rules after opposition from state officials and industry representatives.
Bird flu has infected nearly 400 dairy herds in 14 states and at least 36 people, according to data from the USDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Virologists and federal health officials are also concerned that the convergence of bird flu and seasonal flu could cause the avian flu virus to mutate if people become infected at the same time, making it more easily transmissible between people.
For now, the CDC has said the danger to the general population remains low.
The US Animal Health Association, whose members include the largest dairy, egg and poultry trade groups, and the American Association of Bovine Practitioners, a veterinary group, developed recommendations this fall on how USDA could improve its approach, the documents show . have not previously been reported.
The USDA had previously said that eliminating bird flu among the country’s dairy cattle was possible using its previous approach.
The agency still wants to eradicate the virus, Vilsack said, adding that Colorado’s use of bulk milk testing has eliminated new dairy cow cases in the state.
Dairy farmers in some states have resisted voluntarily testing their animals for fear of economic fallout.
‘FAIL’
The US Animal Health Association adopted a resolution at its annual meeting on October 16 emphasizing the need for a coordinated state and federal surveillance plan, according to a copy of the document seen by Reuters and which has since been posted on the association’s website . .
“The limited requirement for pre-travel testing of only lactating dairy cows moving on the highway is inadequate,” the report said. It instead recommends that the agency coordinate livestock sectors and states in a national surveillance and data collection strategy.
“We cannot wait for a virus to die out. That strategy has not worked,” said Keith Poulsen, director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, who has been involved in discussions about the new recommendations.
The American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP) also issued recommendations in September on how the USDA can better contain the virus, including by testing milk tankers weekly, according to emails and a copy of the draft obtained from the Missouri Department or Agriculture in a public records request.
“The disease continues to spread and current voluntary surveillance is inadequate,” AABP Director K. Fred Gingrich II wrote to a group listserv on September 28.
He noted that only 50 of the country’s then 27,000 dairy herds were participating in the USDA’s voluntary flock testing program, and that 17.6 million commercial poultry birds had been killed after the flocks tested positive for the bovine strain of bird flu, indicating that dairy farms fuel the spread of the virus.
According to USDA data, there are now 64 farms enrolled in the voluntary testing program.
The document was sent by Missouri’s state veterinarian on Sept. 30 to other state animal health officials and a USDA official from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which manages the agency’s avian flu response, the emails show.
The cattle farmer group’s recommendations came after they participated in a September meeting of the American Veterinary Medical Association along with representatives from the poultry, cattle and swine industries, the emails show.
