USDA to enhance monitoring, testing efforts for H5N1 avian influenza

The US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced yesterday the agency is planning to enhance testing and monitoring for H5N1, building on measures taken since the beginning of the avian influenza outbreak. In partnership with state veterinarians, USDA will implement a tiered strategy to collect milk samples to better assess where H5N1 is present, with the goal to better inform biosecurity and containment measures, as well as to inform state-led efforts to reduce risk to farm workers who may be in contact with animals infected with H5N1. Since this disease was first detected in dairy cattle in March 2024, the USDA and state and federal partners have taken several steps to better understand the virus and work to eliminate it from dairy herds. In May 2024, USDA implemented a Federal Order to require the testing of cattle before interstate movement, which has helped to limit H5N1’s spread to new states; in the past 30 days, the numbe