States have already been testing for bird flu. The USDA is now advancing their coordination efforts to track HPAI/ H5N1.
Reminder, interstate raw milk sales are banned and this precludes most engagement that may be had between federal regulators and farms distributing raw milk intrastate under their state-level regulatory agencies.
Order from The USDA
USDA Announces New Federal Order, Begins National Milk Testing Strategy to Address H5N1 in Dairy Herds
The Federal Order released today makes three new requirements.
First, it requires the sharing of raw milk samples, upon request, from any entity responsible for a dairy farm, bulk milk transporter, bulk milk transfer station, or dairy processing facility that sends or holds milk intended for pasteurization.
Second, the Federal Order requires herd owners with positive cattle to provide epidemiological information that enables activities such as contact tracing and disease surveillance.
Finally, like USDA’s April 24 Federal Order, it requires that private laboratories and state veterinarians report positive results to USDA that come from tests done on raw milk samples drawn as part of the NMTS. The first round of silo testing under the Federal Order and the NMTS is scheduled to begin the week of Dec. 16, 2024, although some states are already conducting testing compatible with the NMTS.
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 and requires that all privately owned laboratories and state veterinarians report positive test results connected with those tests. The new Federal Order announced today is intended to complement and enhance this existing order.
What’s changed is that The USDA has moved from required testing of animals to required testing of milk samples.
Industrial origins
AP News – Exclusive: US to begin bulk milk testing for bird flu after push from industry
This type of action tends to originate from the industry, ie Big Ag, and is implemented through the government.
Raw Farm down, for now
One raw milk farm has been suspended from sales until further notice. Raw Farm of Fresno was ordered to stop distributing raw milk by federal regulators. Raw Farm produces milk for sale inside California, as well as raw milk cheeses and raw milk kefir for sale nationwide (interstate).
Just when I find out they keep some Raw Farm kefir at the Sprouts on Aurora, it’s taken from me.
Raw Farm founder Mark McAfee found Bird Flu in a few of the dairy’s cows earlier this year and alerted federal regulators in good faith. Even though cows suffer only mild symptoms and recover quickly, if they produce a positive test they are quarantined if not removed from the herd.
Zero illnesses have been associated with HPAI at Raw Farm. Zero illnesses have been reported for HPAI from raw milk from any other farm. The risk posed is purely hypothetical at this point. It might become real in the future, if the bug mutates in unanticipated and unpredictable ways. It’s just as possible that this will not happen in our lifetimes.
If they find one soon, the discovery will be clouded by the clear bias exhibited in the desire to validate a cross section of medical bloggers targeting of raw milk – while the deaths caused by Boar’s Head lunch meat were washed away with discourse praising the system for working as intended.
Human cases of HPAI infection related to exposure to farm animals have grown due to increased testing. Symptoms amount to conjunctivitis, or pink eye. Patients tend to be farm workers involved in the slaughtering of animals and their illnesses have no association with consuming raw milk.
