Three of the main milk producing states in the United States are not part of federal federal surveillance tests for avian flu, even when a new variant appears in dairy cattle, in what some public health experts say it is a worrying gap in the national effort to identify and detect the spread of the virus.
The United States Department of Agriculture began a voluntary milk test program in December, after it was discovered that the virus jumped into the cattle in March 2024. The recent outbreak of avian influenza in the United States was first detected for the first time In 2022, but has collected steam last year, decimating poultry farms throughout the country, killing dozens of millions of birds and increasing the price of eggs.
While the risk for humans is still low, many public and animal health experts argue that broad national milk tests are fundamental to contain cases of viruses that could otherwise be detected, giving the more variants opportunities to spread to animals and humans.
“It is incredibly difficult to control a disease of national importance unless we have a solid surveillance system,” said Dr. K. Fred Ginger II, executive director of the American Association of Bovine Practices, which represents the veterinarians of cows.
“If we were testing every dairy, I don’t think I have any cases that slide through cracks.”
However, Texas, Wisconsin and Idaho, three of the five main milk producing states in the country, do not participate in the voluntary federal test program. And although there are ongoing efforts to put them on board, it is not clear when they will join, or how long it will take.
Texas had the first known case of Avian flu in cattle, the first person who is believed to be infected by a mammal and a case in dairy cattle as recently as December. But the State Agriculture Commissioner, Sid Miller, said that surveillance milk tests were unnecessary, since there are currently no active cases of aviar flu in commercial cattle or state’s poultry.
“It’s not a big problem, if you measure how many herds are affected,” Miller said in an interview.
To require milk tests for avian flu would be “only more regulation, more cost, more supervision. It is not necessary,” he said, adding that the State still considered that avian flu was a significant threat, but that the development of the vaccine Bovine should be an important approach.
According to the USDA, a separate agency, the State Animal Health Commission, is working with federal officials to develop a surveillance test program for aviar flu.
Last week, the USDA announced that it had discovered a new tension in cattle, trapped in Nevada through the Federal Milk Testing Program.
The detection “is a testimony of the strength of our national milk test strategy,” the USDA said in a statement to NBC News. The agency said last month that Almost three quarters of milk production in the country are being taken. Since then, more states have joined, with almost 40 years now participating. The USDA aims to register the 48 continental states.
A person has dead and at least 68 people have been infected in the US USA.
Richard Webby, an animal influenza expert at St. Jude’s child research hospital, said milk tests are a critical tool to help disease specialists to monitor how the virus is evolving, especially in a way that could Facilitate the transmission from person to person.
“We can find out if there are changes that are happening in the virus that increase human risk,” he said.
Pasteurization effectively kills the aviar flu that is in milk, which makes it sure to drink, although agricultural workers are still coming into contact with raw milk and cattle that could be infected. More than 960 dairy herds throughout the country have been affected so far, and the federal government requires that all infant dairy cattle be tested to detect avian flu before being transferred through state lines.
The test is carried out by state and USDA officials, using raw silos in bulk milk samples, where farm milk is collected before sending it to processors who pasteurize, homogenize and package. The USDA has a national laboratory network for avian flu tests, and the Federal Program requires a minimum of four rounds of tests for six months, with follow -up tests that aim to trace any positive result on individual farms. The agency also offers free evidence to individual farmers.
Wisconsin said that “he continues to work to” enroll in the USDA test program and is working closely with state and federal partners to monitor the developments of Avian flu, according to a spokesman for the State Agriculture Department.
Idaho did not respond to comments requests, but currently does not participate in the program, according to the USDA.
Aviar flu, like many viruses, can often be detected proof days before dairy cows exhibit any symptoms, health experts said, which can help farmers quickly take measures to contain the virus , animals affected by quarantine and try humans that they were potentially exposed.
“The longer we have in the identification of where the virus is, that allows us cattle. year.
“If we are flying blind in a particular state, where we do not know what the State is, we cannot really say with certainty what the risk is,” Russo added.
The frequency of milk tests varies widely in the US, even within the states registered in the USDA program.
While the tests occur monthly in some states, after shooting in dairy cattle last year, Colorado required that all farms perform weekly milk tests to help contain the disease, which has continued.
“Help our poultry and dairy bird industries at night,” said Dr. Maggie Baldwin, a state veterinarian of Colorado, who said that the state test regime helped detect cases before animals show symptoms . “We know where it is and where it is not.”
