The National Veterinary Services Laboratory has detected highly pathogenic avian influenza in a dairy herd in North Carolina, the seventh state where the disease has been found in dairy cattle. HPAI has previously been confirmed in Texas, Kansas, Michigan, Idaho, New Mexico, and Ohio dairy herds. The movement of cattle from affected herds in these states to North Carolina has been suspended.
“This is an evolving situation, and we are waiting for more diagnostics from NVSL and will work collaboratively with our federal partners and dairy farmers in North Carolina,” said the state’s agriculture commissioner, Steve Troxler. “We have spent years developing methods to handle HPAI in poultry, but this is new and we are working with our state and federal partners to develop protocols to handle this situation. It is important to note the FDA has no concern about the safety or availability of pasteurized milk products nationwide.”
The first cases of HPAI in Texas and Kansas were suspected to have been spread by wild birds, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. However, agriculture officials in both Michigan and Ohio have said that their affected cattle were ones that had been received from Texas.
The second human case in two years was confirmed on April 1, heightening concerns around the U.S. about the spread of the virus to animals and people.
To combat HPAI outbreaks, dairy farmers around the United States are taking precautionary measures by stepping up biosecurity and doing what they can to discourage wild birds from landing on the dairy.
According to Reuters, some farms are limiting visitors and requiring tire disinfection. Meanwhile, others are cutting down trees to limit wild bird exposure and trying to keep birds off feed. But there’s no easy solution to keeping birds off dairy farms.
“The dairy farm is like a giant bird feeder,” said Jamie Jonker, chief science officer for the National Milk Producers Federation told Reuters.
»Related: Clinical signs and response to HPAI in dairy cattle herds
