(NEWSnet/AP) — U.S. health and agriculture officials pledged nearly $200 million in new spending and other efforts Friday to help track and contain an outbreak of bird flu in the nation’s dairy cows.
The new funds include $101 million to continue work to prevent, test, track and treat animals and humans potentially affected by the virus known as Type A H5N1, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said. They include about $98 million to provide up to $28,000 each to help individual farms test cattle and bolster biosecurity efforts to halt the spread of the virus, according to the Agriculture Department.
In addition, dairy farmers will be compensated for the loss of milk production from infected cattle, whose supply drops dramatically when they become sick, officials said. Dairy farmers and farm workers would be paid to participate in a workplace study conducted by the USDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The new spending comes more than six weeks after the first-ever detection of an avian bird flu virus in dairy cattle — and one confirmed infection in a Texas dairy worker exposed to infected cows who developed a mild eye infection and then recovered. About 33 people have been tested and another 260 are being monitored, according to the CDC.
As of Friday, 42 herds in nine states have confirmed infections in dairy cows. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said that the outbreak has not spread more widely.
Under a federal order issued last month, farmers are required to test lactating dairy cattle for H5N1 before the animals are moved between states. So far, 80 cows have been tested, Vilsack said. About 50,000 animals cross state lines every week, Poulsen estimates.
The FDA found that pasteurization, or heat-treating, killed the virus in the grocery samples of milk, cottage cheese and sour cream. The agency reiterated warnings that people should not consume raw, or unpasteurized milk, because of possible risk from the virus.
Officials on Friday also said they expect results soon from tests of pooled raw milk samples sent to commercial processors to “determine potential levels of virus that pasteurization must eliminate.” The USDA found no evidence of the virus in a small sample of retail ground beef.
Follow NEWSnet on Facebook and X platform to get our headlines in your social feeds.
Copyright 2024 NEWSnet and The Associated Press. All rights reserved.