In our most recent reports on the "bird flu," California has become the new epicenter for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), as several of the state's dairy workers at herds impacted by the pathogen became infected.
The symptoms of infection in all these cases were mild and included the "pink eye" associated with this strain of influenza when infection occurs in humans.
Recently, the state's public health officials reported that a child has tested positive for the virus.
Clearly, it is going to be difficult to eliminate this virus. However, our government still insists on trying to chase every microbe despite its relatively mild effects on humans and cattle.
Now the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has ordered nationwide testing of the milk supply for bird flu (H5N1) to monitor the spread of the virus in dairy cows. This new federal order requires raw or unpasteurized milk from dairy farms and processors nationwide to be tested upon request starting December 16.
Farmers and dairy processors will be required to provide samples of raw milk on request from the government. And farm owners with infected herds will be required to provide details that would help officials identify more cases and contacts.
The rules were first floated in October and were supposed to be implemented in November. The first round of testing is now scheduled to begin the week of Dec. 16, according to the announcement on Friday.
The new strategy is a departure from the voluntary guidance that the department had issued during the outbreak. Many dairy farms have not complied with voluntary testing of milk or of dairy workers, leaving federal officials in the dark about how widely the virus might have spread.
"I have been absolutely frustrated that we do not know the extent of the outbreak in cattle," Seema Lakdawala, a virologist at Emory University, said.
While "experts" may be happy with this move, earlier this year, I noted that many dairy farmers and cattle ranchers were disinclined to participate in testing, essentially "quiet quitting" the pandemic response.
State animal and human health experts in three states who work closely with veterinarians and farmers said the government tally is likely an undercount because farmers are fearful of the economic hardship brought by a positive test, including being restricted from selling their milk or cattle for weeks.
And some have begun noticing some of the issues related to the reporting on this issue.
It turns out that this move comes after a California dairy farm said it was expanding its recall of raw milk and cream after state health officials discovered bird flu virus in its milk samples.
Meanwhile, California health officials took additional steps to keep consumers safe, including quarantining the farm.
"While this voluntary recall only applies to raw whole milk and cream, due to multiple bird flu detections in the company's operation, the California Department of Public Health [CDPH] urges consumers to avoid consuming any Raw Farm products for human consumption including raw milk, cream, cheese,and kefir, as well as raw milk pet food topper and pet food kefir marketed to pet owners," the CDPH said in a health alert posted Tuesday.
"In addition to the statewide voluntary recall, CDFA [California Department of Agriculture] has placed the farm under quarantine, suspending any new distribution of its raw milk, cream, kefir, butter and cheese products produced on or after November 27," the agency added.
This strain of bird flu has been around for since 2022. So far, only 57 people in this country have contracted an infection resulting in mild cases.
Surely, there must be a better use of agricultural and government resources than targeting small farms producing raw milk products.
It will be interesting to see if there are any changes in priorities after Jan 20th. I sure hope the new team has a better sense of public health risk assessment.