(The Center Square) – Pennsylvania has become the first major dairy producing state to achieve HPAI-free status from the USDA for its milk supply. The milestone comes after a multidisciplinary push to begin bulk testing for the virus.
HPAI stands for highly pathogenic avian influenza, or as its more commonly called: bird flu.
The status is the fourth stage in a five-stage roadmap laid out by the USDA. The first three stages are a regional snapshot of the milk supply, determination of state-specific status and surveillance plans, and responding to and eliminating the virus. The final stage is for this to be achieved nationwide.
“Pennsylvania’s food supply is safe and secure, due to a unified, aggressive, and effective response strategy,” Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said of the achievement.
The Department of Agriculture issued mandatory bulk testing in November of last year after 217 cattle in three states were found to be affected with the strain over a single month. While the virus is fatal for poultry, it can lead to serious illness within cows. It can also be deadly for animals like cats when fed raw, or unpasteurized, milk. It does not pose a great risk to human health.
Testing is conducted by the Pennsylvania Animal Diagnostic Laboratory System processing 22,000 samples from almost all of the state’s nearly 5,000 dairy farms. The governor has proposed two million dollars in funding to maintain the Western Pennsylvania laboratory’s operations. He has also proposed an additional $13 million to the state’s Ag Innovation fund to drive new solutions to challenges like H5N1.
State Veterinarian Dr. Alex Hamberg spoke of the new testing requirement in November, saying, “We’ve seen in other states that the virus shows up in milk before cows show clinical signs of illness. The virus has spread in other states by moving dairy cows from one farm to another, then it has spread among cows.”
If the virus were to be detected within the bulk supply coming from a specific dairy producer, the state would follow a process of contact tracing to quarantine affected animals and eliminate the spread of disease. To date, no cases have been found in Pennsylvania cattle, though birds have been affected in several commercial poultry farms.
Just like disease in humans, transmission can occur quickly and spread widely. The state has urged poultry and dairy farmers to beef up biosecurity measures and promptly report unexplained illness and disease to the state.
“It can be carried on contaminated equipment, trucks, and farmworkers’ footwear and clothing moving between farms and buildings. Rigorous biosecurity, including disinfecting boots, equipment, and vehicles, and using footbaths at barn entryways is critical,” said Hamberg.
“We are not out of the woods yet, and the threat demands that we keep our guard up. But strategic, commonsense investments by the Shapiro Administration, combined with critical partnerships among our state and federal interagency team and every level of our dairy and poultry industries have made a very real difference in minimizing the impact of the most devastating agriculture emergency in U.S. history,” said Redding.
