OMAHA (DTN) -- USDA will test the muscle tissue of as many as 800 cull dairy cows at processing plants to see if any of the meat tests positive for the H5N1 avian flu virus.
There have not been any positive tests of meat samples in three different studies USDA conducted earlier this spring.
USDA announced the new meat inspections Tuesday as the FDA also reported the results of the latest testing of milk products. Tests conducted on 167 retail dairy products by USDA's Agricultural Research Service from June 18-July 31 showed none of the dairy products had any live or "viral" H5N1 in them. There were 29 samples, or 17% of the dairy products, which tested positive for "viral fragments" that were not alive.
"We are affirming that pasteurization is effective against this virus," said Steve Grube, chief medical officer for FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.
FDA continues to look at additional testing of milk, and officials also stressed that there are greater risks consuming non-pasteurized dairy products. Asked about the lack of H5N1 in some tests involving 29 samples of non-pasteurized, or aged "raw" cheese, Grube said, "The lack of evidence does not change our assessment that raw-milk consumption does present a risk to consumers."
Since late March, there have been 190 dairy herds across 13 states that have tested positive for the H5N1 virus.
Colorado has had 63 dairies affected, including 26 dairies in the past month alone. The last positive test of dairy cows was confirmed Aug. 6 in Colorado. The state implemented mandatory weekly bulk-milk testing on July 22 and found 10 more positive dairy farms in the week after that began.
Eric Deeble, USDA's deputy undersecretary for marketing and programs, said the increase in dairy-herd virus detections, especially in Colorado, is tied to state officials implementing a requirement to test bulk-milk samples from individual dairies. Talking more about the virus spread in Colorado, Deeble said the dairy industry in the state is concentrated in one county, making the outbreak there "rather unique because the dairies are close together and share workers and equipment.
"It is a tightly integrated dairy community that is isolated from the rest of the state, and there is a lot of connectivity between the premises and the way in which they use vehicles, support services, milk trucks, hauling vehicles," Deeble said.
MORE BULK-MILK TESTING NEEDED?
Reporters questioned Tuesday why FDA officials are not implementing bulk-milk testing nationally. Grube said, "We are actively working on it," but also said testing "everything is a lot," and FDA is working with state regulators to see where more testing of dairy products "makes the most sense." He added, "This is not a sprint, this is a marathon" to defeat the virus.
"This is the third time we've been able to show the commercial milk supply is safe, and we are working with our state-regulated partners to understand how best to test and where to test along the processing chain," Grube said.
FSIS TO TEST CULL DAIRY COWS
Along with milk, the Food Safety Inspection Service will start inspecting meat from 800 or so culled dairy cows sent to slaughter. USDA will start testing the meat from those animals to determine if there is any H5N1 virus present in the meat. USDA had conducted three separate studies testing meat earlier this spring. Meat from those culled cows will be held at processing plants and not released for sale until the test results come back.
"Once we get the results back, we will ... use it as a potential source of traceback to go back to the farm of origin and supplement our epidemiological work," said Emilio Esteban, USDA's undersecretary for food safety.
At least one dairy cow in May was condemned at slaughter, and its tissue samples tested positive for the virus. No meat from that animal entered the food supply.
USDA also conducted earlier testing of meat back in May. One of the tests showed cooking hamburger to at least 145 degrees Fahrenheit killed the virus.
OUTREACH TO DAIRY FARMERS ON ELAP
Deeble said USDA is continuing its outreach to dairy farmers. The latest is a postcard with QR codes linking farmers to the Emergency Assistance for Livestock Program (ELAP), which provides indemnity payments to dairy farmers who lost milk production because of HPAI. The QR postcard will be sent to more than 20,000 dairy farms as well as each local Farm Service Agency office nationally. A Spanish language postcard also will go out next week.
Deeble said FSA has received 35 ELAP applications from dairy farmers and approved 23 of them so far. Twelve of those approved ELAP applications are in Colorado. Deeble cited more "outreach at the counter" at local FSA offices in Colorado. Deeble said FSA will look to "replicate that at-the-counter service" at county offices nationally.
"We have seen a significant increase in the number of applications, approved applications and payments, particularly in Colorado where the state has implemented bulk-milk sampling," Deeble said.
DAIRY TESTING LEVELS
Deeble said USDA has done about 40,000 H5N1 tests, though "there are many more that have gone through the private lab networks." He added, "So we are confident that there is a good level of testing across the nation."
Most of the testing has been tied to dairy cows getting ready to move across state lines, though Deeble said there has been an "uptick" in testing for moving dairy cows within a state, likely associated with county or state fair shows.
"I will say the testing remains high," Deeble said.
Nationally, there have been a few dairy herds added to the total of infected herds while other dairy farms that tested positive early in the outbreak are now being cleared of the virus, Deeble said.
"I don't want to say that we feel like we're ahead of this," Deeble said. "This is an animal disease of significant concern, and obviously there's a great deal of concern on the potential and real impact to human health. But I do feel like the response is adequate, and I do feel like we are supporting our producers to make it easy for them to test and easy for them to get the support they need."
Asked about further restrictions on dairy farms, Deeble said there are a lot of challenges associated with shutting down a dairy farm compared to euthanizing a poultry flock.
"We are encouraging producers to adopt additional biosecurity measures and have supported the updating of several materials that support that and help producers understand the steps they can take," Deeble said.
That includes measures such as washing trucks and other vehicles, decontaminating milking equipment or other machinery, as well as encouraging farm workers to use personal protective gear, he said.
"We're going to be working over the course of the summer very hard to make sure that folks are aware of the steps they can take to protect themselves," Deeble said.
Also see "CDC Seeks Livestock Workers to Vaccinate Against Seasonal Flu Following H5N1 Outbreak" here: https://www.dtnpf.com/….
Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com
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