To assist in the monitoring of dairy processors in the United States, the Department of Agriculture reportedly said that it would begin conducting nationwide tests to determine whether or not cow’s milk contains avian flu.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on Friday that its “National Milk Testing Strategy” is intended to rapidly detect the presence of the disease in cow’s milk or in the cows themselves.
This is accomplished by collecting random samples from various processing plants and testing them for the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian influenza.
Approximately 110 million poultry birds and a greater number of wild birds have been found to be infected with the virus, indicating that it is common among bird colonies.
According to the research conducted by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the disease has been transmitted to human beings and has spread to cow herds in the United States.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) documented approximately sixty human cases, the majority of which were among workers in the poultry and dairy industries.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the testing regime is anticipated to offer more thorough data on the spread of the disease into cows.
In the week beginning December 16th, the first round of examinations is planned to get underway.
When the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) makes a request, dairy farmers are required to provide raw milk samples from their farms.
Additionally, cow owners who have animals that test positive for the disease are required to submit additional information upon request.
This affords federal agencies the opportunity to do contact tracing in order to more effectively locate the origin of an outbreak.
[READ MORE: Risk Growing of Iran Making a Rush for a Nuclear Bomb]
About Post Author
