Colorado to Start Testing Milk for Bird Flu

(DailyDig.com) – On July 23, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) will require Colorado dairy farmers to test their dairy cow’s supply of milk every week for bird flu.

According to authorities, bird flu remains a low-risk danger to humans. However, in the last twelve months, the disease has devastated the cattle and poultry industry throughout the US. The avian flu strain currently circulating in the nation has infected over 100 million poultry, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Around 168 dairy cattle herds also reported infection with the bird flu.

Maggie Baldwin, Colorado’s state veterinarian, said that they have not managed to stop the disease from spreading at this time. Over the last three months, the state’s livestock population has been fighting the avian flu. She said that they have support from both the poultry and dairy industries to test the milk in order to curb the spread and protect both industries.

In April, the USDA began voluntary testing on dairy cow milk supplies, but Baldwin said it wasn’t enough, hence the move to the weekly requirement.

The testing and surveillance of the state’s milk products will allow the state to track instances of bird flu in order to respond to any further outbreaks. According to authorities, humans can safely consume milk from infected dairy cattle because the pasteurization process eliminates the pathogens. Working with infected cattle or poultry exposed 11 people to bird flu.

The infection, which affected a massive number of chickens in the state, was a reason for the requirement to test for the disease. The bird flu infection led to the extermination of nearly 3.1 million (70%) of Colorado’s egg-laying chickens.

Kate Greenberg, the Colorado State Agriculture Commissioner, said that all the state’s Grade A commercial dairies will be required to perform this milk testing in order to reduce the virus and protect their food system.

The state of Colorado has stated that it has the largest number of bird flu cases reported in the US.