H5N1 in Dairy Cows Continues to Be Center Stage for Ag

The highly pathogenic avian influenza has been running its course through the US dairy industry. The National Association of State Department's of Agriculture Senior Director of Public Policy, RJ Karney says that they are definitely keeping an eye on this issue

“Front and center for the Mazda members. it's front and center for APHIS for many of our federal colleagues, and just a lot of attention, a lot of collaboration and working through to ensure the safety of the food supply chain is intact also to ensure there's a better understanding of what is happening with the dairy cattle. And the key here is with USDA, just releasing its new federal order, there's a lot of understanding that needs to work its way out. So the dairy farmers understand the impact and the new testing requirements.”

The Federal order is a national order. However, states will have the opportunity to go further with any type of restrictions and testing of their own.

“States will have the opportunity if they so choose to go further with any type of restrictions that they may put into place. But at this current moment, it a lot of the focus is on let's make sure we understand the federal order. Let's ensure we can disseminate that information down to the dairy farmers so they can begin to implement and participate into testing requirements are RJ Karney with the National Association of State Department's of Agriculture.