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Milk sampling to begin in Wisconsin

Milk from Wisconsin dairy farms will be tested for the avian influenza virus soon as part of the national milk testing plan.

Ag Secretary Randy Romanski says as part of the national milk testing strategy, mandatory milk samples will be collected. “We’re going to be working with partners where we’re going to get one sample obtained per dairy farm each month that’s going to be tested at the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Lab.”

Romanski says Wisconsin’s testing program utilizes many existing resources. “We found a way to not have those samples be collected by a new person who is going to be going onto farms so obviously, this recognizes biosecurity needs. They’ll be pulled as part of a general practice.”

Romanski says milk silo testing was not the best option for Wisconsin. “Wisconsin has more dairy farms than any other state, and we’ve got a whole lot of processors as well, so doing it at the silos was going to be cumbersome for collection. Since that time, we’ve evolved to this current situation which is going through the milk testing labs.”

Romanski says now that Wisconsin and USDA have agreed to a testing strategy, he expects samples will be collected beginning this week.

If H5N1 is detected on a Wisconsin dairy farm, the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory will notify the Division of Animal Health, which will work with farms regarding quarantine requirements and animal movement.  Since pasteurization makes the milk safe for consumption, farms may continue shipping milk from infected herds if it meets “normal” milk standards defined by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

There have already been more than 6-thousand tests for H5N1 in Wisconsin, and there have been no positive tests.