USDA aims to isolate, exhaust H5N1 virus in dairy herds
The USDA’s strategy against bird flu in dairy cattle is to identify infected herds and wait for the virus to die out within the herds, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Monday. “I’m confident we have a good understanding of the virus and how it is being transferred,” he added.
The government has faced repeated questions about whether it knows for certain how widespread bird flu in cattle is. To date, H5N1 has been confirmed in 80 herds in nine states. The USDA requires dairy farmers to test lactating cows for bird flu before shipping them across state lines. It also offers money to dairy farms to improve their biosecurity standards against disease and will launch a voluntary program for weekly testing of milk samples drawn from bulk storage tanks on dairy farms.