As bird flu continues to spread, Indiana holds off on mandatory dairy cattle testing

[Mary Wilson]

JUNE 20, 2024
BY: CASEY SMITH AND LESLIE BONILLA MUÑIZ

As avian flu continues to spread to dairy cows across the United States, Hoosier officials said farmers are keeping a close eye on their herds, but animal testing mostly remains optional. ...

Indiana officials said the state doesn’t have confirmed cases of H5N1 infections in cows or humans yet.

Detecting bird flu in Indiana cows might not be as efficient as in other states, however. Hoosier dairy farmers don’t have an obligation to test their cows — in part because some farmers may not want to self-report cases. ...

https://indianacapitalchronicle.com/2024/06/20/as-bird-flu-continues-to-spread-indiana-holds-off-on-mandatory-dairy-cattle-testing/

[Commonground]

[no longer optional]

Feds require Indiana and other Midwest states to test their milk for bird flu
December 23, 2024


The U.S. Department of Agriculture is requiring more states to test their unpasteurized milk for bird flu or H5N1.

Indiana and Ohio are both part of the second group of states added to the federal testing program.

Other states include: California, Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Washington.

According to the USDA, the first two groups of selected states include eight of the top 15 dairy-producing states in the country.
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Denise Derrer Spears, public information director with the Indiana State Board of Animal Health, said the state hopes to get some bulk testing in place by January 2025.

“All the states need to participate in some testing program to get that clarity as far as where [the virus] is and exactly what the extent of the spread of the disease has been,” she said.

The USDA has outlined a five-point plan for regular bulk milk testing, which ramps up or down depending on whether any infected milk is detected.

According to Spears, Indiana will provide milk samples from processing plants and silos that sometimes oversee milk from eighty different farms.

“USDA is advocating testing from those,” Spears said. “That way you get lots of farms tested at one time off of a single test.”

Any non-negative tests will then require the state to go back and figure out where the infection originated from.

continued: https://www.lpm.org/news/2024-12-23/...k-for-bird-flu