Feds crank up their response to bird flu at nation’s dairy farms
Federal officials announced Friday they’re ramping up their response to bird flu, taking steps to monitor and contain its spread in the United States through direct financial aid to dairy farms and testing tools for dairy workers and cattle.
The aid would expand testing, underwrite costs for farms that provide personal protective gear for workers, and compensate farms for veterinary bills and lost milk production.
The additional funding amounts to $28,000 per impacted farm over the next four months, federal officials said.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also will spend $101 million on efforts to test, treat and prevent bird flu.
Humans, at this point, are not in danger, officials said.
“The risk to the public from this outbreak remains low,” said Xavier Becerra, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Bird flu is the non-scientific name for avian influenza, a virus that infects waterfowl, turkeys and other birds. If it stays in birds, the main danger is to poultry.
Flocks of chickens have had to be killed and eggs destroyed.
This strain of avian influenza, called H5N1, has been around since at least 1997, but it mutated a few years ago to become adaptable to more bird species and mammals.
A spate of recent cases in U.S. cattle prompted widespread concern the disease can pass from species to species.
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said testing revealed 42 cattle herds at farms in nine states had been infected. The USDA aims to prevent the spread by mandating farms test cattle before herds are shipped across state lines.
The USDA’S programs will fund dairy farms with infected cows to help contain the spread.
The programs include:
● $2,000 per month to offset the costs of equipping workers with protective gear. The farms must participate in a workplace and farmworker study. Workers who participate in the study will also be paid for their time.
● $1,500 for farms that develop “biosecurity plans” to secure the milk supply, including protective measures for people involved in hauling milk between farms, veterinarians and feed truck operators. Milk producers can get another $100 payment to buy and use an in-line sampler to test their milk supplies.
● $2,000 per month for impacted farms that safely heat and dispose of milk. The milk is heated to inactivate the virus.
● $10,000 per farm with confirmed bird flu cases to cover veterinary costs and testing fees. The USDA also will pay up to $100 per month to cover the cost of shipping specimens to laboratories for testing.
● In addition, the government will compensate farms that lost milk production due to the bird flu virus. Cows generally recover from the virus, but milk production is sharply reduced after an outbreak, creating economic hardship for affected farms.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will spend $93 million to expand testing and monitoring of the virus, including monitoring people who have been exposed to infected birds and poultry.
Contributed: Karen Weintraub, USA TODAY