The Moos Room™

00;00;12;29 - 00;00;43;19
Speaker 1
Welcome to The Moos Room, Brad Heins. On a Friday afternoon. I wanted to give you an update on some new news that's been happening with the world of highly pathogenic avian influenza. So today, Friday, December 6th, the USDA and Aphis. They announced additional measures to help prevent the further spread of hi pass avian influenza. So what does this really mean?

00;00;43;19 - 00;01;12;01
Speaker 1
So this is a new federal order that just came out today. However, it does not override the order from April 24th, which says that they're still requiring mandatory testing of all dairy cattle moving intrastate as well as the reporting of any positive results. So that's still happening. But now they're going to require mandatory testing of milk. So let's walk through that a little bit.

00;01;12;01 - 00;01;48;05
Speaker 1
And what that actually means. So it means upon request from Aphis, any person that's responsible for a dairy farm, a bulk milk transporter, a transfer station or any dairy processing facility that sends or holds raw milk. So unpasteurized milk must allow Aphis or its cooperators, the USDA, to obtain raw milk samples to test for highly pathogenic avian influenza virus.

00;01;48;07 - 00;02;29;16
Speaker 1
So we're going to start taking samples from processing facilities to see if the virus is there. So there's going to be some obviously mandatory reporting that goes along with this as well, where laboratories and state veterinarians must report positive, results. And obviously, then the owners of herds, which they if they find that and we'll go through the testing strategy in a little bit, will be required to provide epidemiological information, which includes information about animal movements in and out of the herd.

00;02;29;18 - 00;03;06;08
Speaker 1
So that's the basis of what's going to happen. So as part of this national testing strategy, they'll work with each state within the United States to begin this national testing program. And it has five levels to it. So the first stage is standing up mandatory USDA national Plant silo monitoring. So the USDA will begin testing milk silos at dairy processing facilities.

00;03;06;11 - 00;03;43;24
Speaker 1
So they'll get these national samples that will allow USDA to identify where the disease is present. It can monitor trends and help states identify potentially affected herds. So stage two here we determine the state's H5n1 dairy cattle status. So they'll get the results from the silo monitoring in collaboration with the states. So now the USDA will do bulk tank sampling programs that will enable them to identify herds in each particular state that is affected with H5n1.

00;03;43;26 - 00;04;14;19
Speaker 1
So if they find it in a milk silo, they'll probably do further testing to see if it can trace back to which herds actually have it. So stage three is detecting and responding to the virus in affected states. Obviously states if they have H5n1 detections, Aphis will work to identify cases and implement rapid response measures, including enhanced biosecurity, which we've talked about a lot, and movement controls and contact tracing.

00;04;14;19 - 00;04;46;08
Speaker 1
So that's if they are able to find it on farms. Then stage four is demonstrating ongoing absence of H5 in dairy cattle in unaffected states. So once all the dairy herds in a given state are considered to be unaffected, Aphis will continue regular sampling of farms bulk tanks to ensure that the disease does not reemerge. So bulk tank sampling frequency will decline as the state demonstrates continual negative tests from milk silos.

00;04;46;09 - 00;05;19;17
Speaker 1
If the state becomes positive again, they'll start testing all again and return to stage three. And then stage five is demonstrating freedom of H5 in US dairy cattle. So after all the states move through stage four, Aphis will begin periodic sampling and testing to illustrate long term absence from the national herd. So as of this announcement today, the following six states will be included in the first round of states that are brought into this program.

00;05;19;19 - 00;06;00;07
Speaker 1
California. Colorado. Ohio. Michigan. Mississippi. Oregon and Pennsylvania. So those are the six states where they'll begin milk silo testing right away at stage one. So the USDA will be working closely with each state to determine their status. If you want more information, the USDA is going to host a webinar session for all state animal health officials and state dairy regulators the week of December 9th, which is next week, to learn more about the national plant silo monitoring procedures.

00;06;00;10 - 00;06;36;18
Speaker 1
It looks like these sessions are going to be Tuesday, December 10th and Wednesday, December 11th to allow for multiple opportunities for people to participate. So the goal is for Aphis to work to educate and inform state partners about this new national milk testing strategy and how they can work with the USDA under this new strategy. Obviously, in the coming weeks, Aphis will include additional states in the National Milk Testing program, and they will eventually it will work with all 48 contiguous states.

00;06;36;24 - 00;07;09;11
Speaker 1
Obviously, the USDA continues to stress to farmers as well as we do, that effective biosecurity practices are probably the best way to help control the spread of this disease, and that every farm should review their current biosecurity practices and make sure that you are diligently following those and implementing them. They also encourage herd owners to participate in support programs which help cover the cost of biosecurity programing.

00;07;09;17 - 00;07;44;19
Speaker 1
PPE for employees, and veterinary care. Obviously, you can find that more information at the FSA website or USDA FSA office. So I wanted to give just a quick update on the new national milk testing strategy, and I'm sure we'll be hearing more about this into the future, but I thought it was important for people to know that this is happening now in the US and to look for, some testing happening and to not be alarmed if there's more testing for highly pathogenic avian influenza in your state.

00;07;44;21 - 00;07;45;15
Speaker 1
Thanks for listening.