Seventeen states, including Michigan, had dairy herds test positive for bird flu since March of last year, though only three in Western U.S. have had cases in the last 30 days.
In December, USDA announced it will require states to test raw milk for H5N1 Avian Flu.
Wisconsin is expecting to roll out its testing process this week.
Testing raw milk for the bird flu has two major goals. One, to help protect the health of the herd. Two, to help protect the health of the people working with them.
Adam Brock is the administrator for the Division of Food and Recreational Safety at the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (DATCP).
He says Wisconsin’s dairy industry does things a little differently from other states, so it took some time to set up a testing system that worked well.
“We got to make sure the biosecurity is safe and that we keep farmers safe and keep them focused on what they need to do, which is continue to bring milk, so just trying to make it balance out all the way around. That's it took time. Wisconsin's a unique state,” said Brock.
Part of the issue is that raw milk from multiple farms will go into a single silo. Rather than test it at that point which would require going back to all the farms that contributed to that silo for testing if bird was detected, Wisconsin will do its testing from milk sourced at individual farms.
Milk is already regularly tested this way for various other things, so this test will be incorporated into that with the intention of having a minimal impact on farmers.
Brock says the goal is get all 5,000-plus dairy farms in the state tested over the next couple months.
Eventually he expects it to slow down to become more like maintenance testing.
“It may be something like and again, this is estimated, because we don't really know what USDA will say, but it could be half the number of farms or even a quarter,” said Brock.
“But first we got to get through this round to just prove that we don't have it. If we do find something, obviously we'll take action.”
Brock says herds that have gotten the bird flu in other states seems to recover fairly quickly.
DATCP’s Division of Animal Health will work with farms if the virus is detected. This includes:
- Initial Testing: If H5N1 is detected, DATCP’s Division of Animal Health will be notified by the WVDL and the Division of Animal Health will notify the farm.
- Follow-Up: DATCP’s Division of Animal Health will work with affected farms regarding quarantine requirements. For more information, refer to the What To Do if H5N1 is Confirmed on Your Dairy Farm resource document on DATCP’s website.
- Milk Standards: Farms may continue shipping milk if it meets “normal” milk standards under ATCP 65.20 (milk that is not bloody, stringy, off-colored, or otherwise abnormal). Additionally, the Food and Drug Administration and USDA continue to emphasize that the commercial milk supply is safe because of the pasteurization process.
- Any H5N1 detections will also be confirmed by the National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL).
Brock stresses that because of the pasteurization process, dairy products are safe to consume.
“I feel confident that cheese, milk, yogurt, anything that's pasteurized, consumers do not need to worry. We've seen a lot of research. We've had 100 years of pasteurization. This was the 100th year of the pasteurized milk ordinance, showing that pasteurization works, so I'm confident in our finished products,” said Brock.
Once the testing gets into full swing, Brock estimates the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory will test about 1,000 to 1,300 samples a week.
The testing is being paid for by a grant from USDA. It’s not expected to raise the cost of milk.
