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USDA issues milk testing order

A new Federal Order was issued Friday by USDA requiring that raw (unpasteurized) milk samples nationwide be collected and shared with USDA for testing.  As part of a five-stage program, USDA will immediately begin nationwide testing of milk silos at dairy processing facilities.  In cooperation with states, USDA will also step up bulk tank sampling programs to identify herds that are affected with H5N1.

Dr. Keith Poulsen with the University of Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Lab tells Brownfield the new federal order will help get a better snapshot of where the virus is and where it isn’t. 

Poulsen says USDA has funding available to pay for the milk samples. “Those will actually be tested at the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa. Wisconsin as part of the NAHLN (National Animal Health Laboratory) network, we have capacity to do that for the entire state of Wisconsin and then some, just like most of our other peer large laboratories, so I’m not worried about capacity. It’s more about the logistics of getting the samples and the data.”

He expects the silo sampling to begin right away in states with H5N1 cases, and in other states soon. “We know we can utilize those resources of what states are not affected. We can direct them to help us a little bit into the states that are either just starting or right in the middle of it like California.”

Poulsen says USDA was careful to ensure farm data privacy in the new testing order.

USDA says this National Milk Testing Strategy is designed to increase USDA’s and public health partners’ understanding of the virus’ spread in the United States through a structured, uniform, and mandatory testing system that will help swiftly identify which states, and specific herds within them, are affected with H5N1; support the rapid implementation of enhanced biosecurity measures to decrease the risk of transmission to other livestock; and importantly, inform critical efforts to protect farmworkers to help lower their risk of exposure.

Poulsen tells Brownfield he expects testing to begin in states with confirmed H5N1 infected herds and expand from there. He expects the testing to continue into the forseeable future, either under this order or under a new law.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says, “Among many outcomes, this will give farmers and farmworkers better confidence in the safety of their animals and ability to protect themselves, and it will put us on a path to quickly controlling and stopping the virus’ spread nationwide.”

This new Federal Order does not override or supersede USDA’s April 24 Federal Order, which still requires the mandatory testing of lactating dairy cows prior to interstate shipment.

Audio: Dr. Keith Poulsen discusses the new USDA Federal Order requiring raw milk testing with Brownfield’s Larry Lee