Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
The country’s milk supply they must be tested for the H5N1 bird flu virus under a new order announced Friday by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
the rules require unpasteurized milk samples from dairy farms, bulk milk carriers, or dairy processing facilities to collect and share with the USDA for testing at the government’s request.
Owners of herds with cattle that tested positive for the virus it will also need to provide epidemiological details to help with contact tracing and disease surveillance under the new rules. It also requires private laboratories and state veterinarians to report positive results that come from tests done on raw milk samples taken as part of the new strategy.
The announcement comes more than a year after the virus began circulating through dairy cattle – and as criticism increases about the lack of testing and monitoring of animals or people who may be infected with the virus.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement that the new strategy aims to better control the outbreak.
“It will give farmers and farmworkers better confidence in the safety of their animals and the ability to protect themselves, and put us on the path to quickly control and stop the spread of the virus across the country,” Vilsack said.
The new rules replace the existing voluntary guidance, which had made it difficult to track the spread of the virus because many farms did not comply with testing either farm workers or livestock herds.
The department said a “structured, uniform and mandatory testing system” will help quickly identify which states and specific herds within them are affected by H5N1 and “inform critical efforts to protect farmworkers to help reduce risk of exposure”.
The first round of testing is scheduled to begin the week of December 16 in California, Colorado, Michigan, Mississippi, Oregon and Pennsylvania.
The USDA said it still requires mandatory testing of lactating dairy cows prior to interstate shipment and requires all privately owned laboratories and state veterinarians to report positive test results related to those tests. This requirement was instituted in April
