Latest news with #NationalMilkTestingStrategy
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Wisconsin to start new mandatory milk testing to protect public health
(WFRV) – Wisconsin, nationally known as 'American's Dairyland', is initiating monthly milk testing on all dairy farms to monitor for bird flu (H5N1). This proactive measure comes as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is allegedly suspending its national milk testing program, due to significant staff reductions. According to NewsNation, an internal email from the FDA's Division of Dairy Safety announced in April that the agency was halting its proficiency testing program for Grade 'A' raw milk and finished dairy products. However, the claim that the FDA is suspending routine safety inspection is false, according to a FDA spokesperson. The administration says they've been working on a shift of the routine food efforts in states for years. 'Not as simple as flipping a switch': Cellcom provides another update on the continued outage The alleged suspension is attributed to the significant workforce reductions within the FDA's food safety and nutrition division, after the termination of over 20,000 positions within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This was overseen by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of the HHS under President Trump's Administration. The Trump Administration must stop turning their backs on America's Dairyland and betraying our farmers, producers, and agricultural industries by trying to gut funding Wisconsin's farmers and producers were safety experts have long expressed concern that budget cuts during the Trump's term could lead to reduced oversight of the nation's food production and supply chains, an outcome favored by industry groups but one that might increase the risk of harmful outbreaks for consumers. According to a CBS report, FDA officials are evaluating proposals to shift many routine inspection responsibilities to state and local agencies. New mandatory testing in Wisconsin could free up resources to focus on higher priority and foreign inspections. CBS News says 42 other states, including Puerto Rico, have contracts to outsource such inspections. A press release sent from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) announced the implementation of the new mandatory National Milk Testing Strategy (NMTS), required by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). The release states this new program aims to enhance surveillance of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPA/H5N1) in dairy cattle and address the affected herds. At least 58 people in the U.S., primarily farm workers, have contracted bird flu, experiencing mild illness after close contact with infected cows, contaminated milk, or poultry, according to AP News. Under the NMTS, Wisconsin will begin mandatory monthly milk sampling. With assistance from industry partners, one milk sample per dairy farm will be collected each month and tested at the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (WVDL). These samples will primarily be gathered through existing milk quality labs, ensuring minimal disruption to dairy operations while obtaining farm-level results. Neenah police asking for the public's help in reuniting a cat with her kittens The release highlights that if H5N1 is detected, DATCP's Division of Animal Health will notify the farm and work with them on quarantine requirements. Farms may continue shipping milk if it meets 'normal' standards. This includes milk that is not bloody, stringy, or off-colored. Additionally, the FDA and USDA said they will continue to emphasize that the commercial milk supply is safe due to the pasteurization process. Health officials say the risk of bird flu to the general public remains low. The virus is destroyed through pasteurization, making commercially processed milk safe for consumption. Despite the FDA's setbacks in employees, federal and state labs continue to monitor food samples, the Wisconsin DATCP says. Wisconsin's proactive approach shows its commitments to safeguarding its dairy industry and ensuring public health. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Milk testing is vital to keeping avian flu out of state's dairy herds
While New York state has not had a case of avian influenza in dairy cows, veterinary experts say milk testing underway at dairy processing plants is the key to early detection. According to Friday numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, no person-to-person spread of avian flu H5N1 virus has occurred, however 70 people in the US have become infected from live poultry, cattle, or milk directly from the milking process with one known death. With dairy farms expanding into larger numbers of cows, Kaitlyn Lutz, VMD, bilingual dairy specialist for Cornell Cooperative Northwest Dairy Livestock and Field Crops Team, said milk testing is able to keep pace. She said pasteurizing milk with heat at processing plants has been demonstrated to kill the H5N1 virus before milk is sold for human consumption. 'It's actually kind of a wimpy virus when it comes to heat treatment,' said Michael Capel, DVM, DABVP, a bovine veterinarian and partner in Perry Veterinary Clinic in Wyoming County. 'Pasteurization is 100% effective.' While dabbling ducks like mallards introduced avian flu to cows, the virus has changed to a new strain that moves within cattle, and occasionally to people. Eliminating contact between cows and birds is not a prevention priority. 'The original spillover event was from wild birds to dairy cattle, but now that it's been in cattle, it's thought that it is spread from other infected cattle or fomites (secretions),' Lutz said. 'Milk has the highest viral load compared to any other body secretion.' People who drink unprocessed milk should be vigilant, Lutz said. 'We do have raw milk consumption in our state,' she said. 'There are multiple farms that have raw milk permits. We do not know if raw milk is safe to drink for humans.' Farm workers who are exposed to unpasteurized milk in the milking process have some risk of contracting avian flu, Lutz said. She works to educate workers in Western New York about the illness and its prevention. Routine testing at New York's regional dairy processing plants has not detected avian influenza, but if a milk sample tested positive it could be immediately linked to the farm where it originated, said Capel, past president of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners. That's because processors are required to test milk from incoming trucks, and they store a sample from each farm,' Capel said. Nearly every state in the country has implemented the National Milk Testing Strategy which assures that milk is screened for the live H5N1 virus by farm or processor level, he said. Milk testing is key because there is no vaccine licensed in the United States to prevent avian flu in cattle, Capel said. Other avian flu precautions are taken when shipping cattle. Lutz said many dairy farms outsource the rearing of heifer calves to facilities in western states. Once grown, the heifers are returned to the farm of origin. "Because we have transport of young stock across state lines, it's something we have to be mindful of," Lutz said. New York requires young animals coming from out-of-state to receive a nasal swab test, Capel said, but flu risk among heifers is much smaller than among lactating cattle. Capel advises farmers to ask for milk testing results on any individual cows they are considering purchasing. 'If I were purchasing from a farm, I would go to the farm and ask for milk testing for a couple of weeks.' He said any new animals should be kept separately from the herd and monitored. David McCollum, co-owner of McCollum Farms in Gasport with 1,500 dairy cows, joked that you can't post a sign - Avian flu keep out. 'All you can do is keep things tightened up,' he said. Infected cows recover with treatment, Capel said, but often do not resume full milk production. If they are culled, they can not be sold for human consumption. Capel's veterinary practice works with dairy farms on biosecurity plans to address avian flu and other disease risks. 'I think these individual plans are really critical,' he said. 'Every farm is a little bit different, and risk factors on farms are a little bit different.' Grant funding has been available from the USDA to cover veterinarians' consulting time, equipment, and protective gear.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump promised to lower egg prices on ‘day one.' Now his administration admits there's no ‘silver bullet'
During the campaign, President Donald Trump pledged to bring grocery and egg prices on 'day one.' Now, his top agriculture rep says there is no 'silver bullet' to eradicate the disease killing chickens and leading to the spike. 'This five-point strategy won't erase the problem overnight, but we're confident that it will restore stability to the egg market over the next three to six months. This approach will also ensure stability over the next four years and beyond,' Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins wrote in an op-ed published Wednesday in The Wall Street Journal. The plan includes providing $500 million to expand biosecurity, increasing relief to aid farmers to the tune of $400 million, removing 'regulatory burdens' on the industry, exploring vaccine strategies for chickens and even having eggs sent here from abroad. The president and administration officials have continuously pinned most of the blame for consumer woes and the U.S. response on the Biden administration, saying that they hadn't taken the issue 'seriously.' Now, experts are warning that egg prices will continue to go up - to the tune of a 40 percent jump in 2025. In January, retail egg prices rose by 13.8 percent, according to recent Agriculture Department data. Egg prices this January were 53 percent higher than last January. Restaurants have started to add surcharges to egg dishes. Now, some Democratic lawmakers are calling for federal regulators to investigate the industry. The price has been driven by the killing of chickens in response to bird flu. As the disease is traced and found in flocks, they are slaughtered to slow the spread. More than 166 million chickens have been killed during the three-year outbreak, officials said. Former President Joe Biden's administration launched the National Milk Testing Strategy, that has helped to trace the spread of bird flu in cows, tested unpasteurized milk and cheese and devoted more money and resources to the issue at the end of last year. States have continued to join the testing strategy during the first weeks of the Trump administration. 'There is no short-term fix. If there were, it would have been addressed under the last administration,' Rollins told CBS News earlier in the week. The secretary said Trump had made the issue a priority 'from minute one,' and that they would work to repopulate following the culling of millions of chickens exposed to the virus. She would not say which countries could be involved in importing eggs to the U.S. One of the regulations Rollins specifically mentioned is California's Proposition 12, which requires egg-laying hens, breeding pigs and veal calves to be housed in systems that comply with specific standards for freedom of movement, cage-free design and floor space. In a win for the animal protection movement, the regulation was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2023. Rollins said that it's caused egg prices to go up - although how much remains a subject of debate. She said prices should start to come down 'maybe later this spring, this summer.' But not until they increase some more. An uptick would occur until Easter, which she said is normal considering the demand for eggs over the holiday weekend. Rollins said Americans just need to hold on. 'The American taxpayers, American consumers, and American poultry farmers have relief coming right around the corner,' Rollins told Fox News's Dana Perino.
The Independent
26-02-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Trump promised to lower egg prices on ‘day one.' Now his administration admits there's no ‘silver bullet'
During the campaign, President Donald Trump pledged to bring grocery and egg prices on 'day one.' Now, his top agriculture rep says there is no 'silver bullet' to eradicate the disease killing chickens and leading to the spike. 'This five-point strategy won't erase the problem overnight, but we're confident that it will restore stability to the egg market over the next three to six months. This approach will also ensure stability over the next four years and beyond,' Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins wrote in an op-ed published Wednesday in The Wall Street Journal. The plan includes providing $500 million to expand biosecurity, increasing relief to aid farmers to the tune of $400 million, removing 'regulatory burdens' on the industry, exploring vaccine strategies for chickens and even having eggs sent here from abroad. The president and administration officials have continuously pinned most of the blame for consumer woes and the U.S. response on the Biden administration, saying that they hadn't taken the issue 'seriously.' Now, experts are warning that egg prices will continue to go up - to the tune of a 40 percent jump in 2025. In January, retail egg prices rose by 13.8 percent, according to recent Agriculture Department data. Egg prices this January were 53 percent higher than last January. Restaurants have started to add surcharges to egg dishes. Now, some Democratic lawmakers are calling for federal regulators to investigate the industry. The price has been driven by the killing of chickens in response to bird flu. As the disease is traced and found in flocks, they are slaughtered to slow the spread. More than 166 million chickens have been killed during the three-year outbreak, officials said. Former President Joe Biden's administration launched the National Milk Testing Strategy, that has helped to trace the spread of bird flu in cows, tested unpasteurized milk and cheese and devoted more money and resources to the issue at the end of last year. States have continued to join the testing strategy during the first weeks of the Trump administration. 'There is no short-term fix. If there were, it would have been addressed under the last administration,' Rollins told CBS News earlier in the week. The secretary said Trump had made the issue a priority 'from minute one,' and that they would work to repopulate following the culling of millions of chickens exposed to the virus. She would not say which countries could be involved in importing eggs to the U.S. One of the regulations Rollins specifically mentioned is California's Proposition 12, which requires egg-laying hens, breeding pigs and veal calves to be housed in systems that comply with specific standards for freedom of movement, cage-free design and floor space. In a win for the animal protection movement, the regulation was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2023. Rollins said that it's caused egg prices to go up - although how much remains a subject of debate. She said prices should start to come down 'maybe later this spring, this summer.' But not until they increase some more. An uptick would occur until Easter, which she said is normal considering the demand for eggs over the holiday weekend. Rollins said Americans just need to hold on. 'The American taxpayers, American consumers, and American poultry farmers have relief coming right around the corner,' Rollins told Fox News's Dana Perino.
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
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
