Wisconsin will join the federal milk testing surveillance program aimed to detect bird flu
Wisconsin dairy producers and processors will soon be required to test raw milk for avian flu as part of the National Milk Testing Strategy, a nationwide effort to eliminate the virus from dairy herds.
Wisconsin's Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection issued a news release on Wednesday saying Wisconsin will participate in the testing program, adding that state officials have been working with state and federal partners to find a testing strategy that fits the state's unique dairy industry.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced the start of its voluntary milk-testing program on Dec. 6. States participating in the surveillance program require dairy farms and processors to share samples of unpasteurized milk when requested, to gather more information about the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza.
Through the program, a different strain of the bird flu virus was detected in six dairy herds in Nevada. The D1.1 genotype was subsequently found a week later via milk sampling in Arizona dairy cows. A Louisiana patient died of the disease, becoming the first in the U.S. to die from bird flu.
To date, the virus has been confirmed in over 970 herds across 17 states, according to data from the Department of Agriculture.
Months after the federal milk testing program started, public health experts were questioning why three of the nation's top milk-producing states ‒ Wisconsin, Idaho and Texas ‒ were still not a part of it. According to the latest USDA/APHIS milk testing enrollment website, only six of the 48 contiguous states remain unenrolled: Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts, North Dakota and Wisconsin.
While details of Wisconsin's starting date were not immediately available, officials expect to utilize samples that are already collected for routine milk testing to streamline the testing process.
Similarly, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture announced on Wednesday that starting the week of Feb. 24, it would begin ordering the testing of raw milk samples already collected from each of the state's 1,600 dairy herds on a monthly basis.
While the virus has not been confirmed so far in any of the state's dairy herds, Wisconsin has lost 3.67 million birds ‒ laying hens, turkeys and upland game birds ‒ across 19 commercial flocks since the current strain was first detected in wild birds in the U.S. in January 2022.
Nationally, the USDA has confirmed 36 cases of bird flu in livestock in four states in the last 30 days.
DATCP officials have created a document for the industry in case of a detection of bird flu on a dairy farm. The document is intended to serve as a general reference for industry, but individual needs and response actions may differ for H5N1 detections, depending on the operation and specific circumstances.
Producers should continue to enhance biosecurity and monitor disease in their herds. Access information on tips and strategies for poultry, cattle and swine on the DATCP website.
Producers should report herds with unexplained symptoms to DATCP at 608-224-4872 (business hours) or 800-943-0003 (after hours and weekends).
DATCP HPAI (H5N1) in Poultry
DATCP H5N1 in Dairy Cattle
DATCP H5N1 Protocol: What To Do if H5N1 Is Confirmed on Your Dairy Farm
USDA Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-raised Fish Program (ELAP)
USDA Expanded Support for Affected and Unaffected Producers
USDA Dairy Herd Status Program
This article originally appeared on Wisconsin State Farmer: Wisconsin set to join national milk testing program in fight against bird flu
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