BrownfieldAgNews reports:
A veterinary disease expert says more than half of the raw milk produced in the U.S. is now being tested for the H5N1 avian influenza virus.
Dr. Keith Poulsen with the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory tells Brownfield progress is being made towards USDA’s goal of testing all raw milk for the virus. “Over 50% of the cows that produce the milk for the United States are part of the surveilance program now. We’re hoping for another large number of states to be announced this Wednesday (1/8/25). The big ones, California, Pennsylvania, New York are part of this program along with many others. USDA is paying for the tests.
States that have positive testing herds like Michigan and Colorado were some of the first states to implement the mandatory testing. Poulsen says Wisconsin has no H5N1 positive herds but is preparing for the mandatory milk testing. Poulsen says in most states, raw milk will be tested at processor milk silos. If a positive test is found, he says it can be traced back to the farm and researchers can then learn more about how the virus spreads.
Poulsen emphasises that pasteurization works, so there is no human health risk from consuming pasteurized dairy products.
