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Kansas animal health commissioner says H5N1 vaccine getting closer

The animal health commissioner for the Kansas Department of Agriculture says a vaccine could be available soon to guard against H5N1 in dairy cattle.

Justin Smith tells Brownfield…

“It’s not available yet, it’s efficacy hasn’t been proven, but we’re on the way,” he says.

Four cases of H5N1 were confirmed in Kansas herds earlier this year, but he says the state hasn’t had any additional cases since.

“When you talk to these dairies and what they’re dealing with, they’re trying to support these cows or support them the best they can with fluid intake and anti-inflammatories and just getting them through that viral insult,” he says.

As of Friday, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service says there have been 277 cases of H5N1 reported in California and Utah in the last 30 days.

Smith says traceability is useful in limiting the spread of disease.

“We can’t afford to miss those animals, and so depending on how we can isolate those positive animals, we have to throw a net and then we have to capture all those people that may have been involved, may have been exposed, may be involved in that disease process,” he says.

He says it’s up to the industry to decide if traceability should be mandatory.

Brownfield interviewed Smith at the 2024 Kansas Livestock Association convention in Manhattan, Kansas.