H5 testing strategy

A new National Milk testing strategy in conjunction with USDA prevention and response efforts to the H5n1 virus in dairy cattle. What is the intent and end goal? Explanation is provided by Julie Gautier of USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. We've got five stages identified. These aren't necessarily linear. States do not have to move through every stage. There's a lot of flexibility. Ultimately, at the end of this process, we want to be able to declare the United States free of avian influenza in dairy cattle. Speaker1: So what is the breakdown of each stage within this strategy? Speaker2: Stage one starts with monitoring the large tanks. Silos at milk processing facilities will be asking dairy regulators, dairy inspectors to sample milk at these processing facilities from each silo that contains milk intended for pasteurization, a screening stage that we want to put in place all across the country. Stages two and three of the National Milk Testing Strategy, respectively, involves determination of a state's H5n1 dairy cattle status and detection and response to the virus in affected states. Speaker2: Stage two is something that a state can decide to use to fast track them to demonstrate unaffected status or identify that state as being infected with this virus in their dairy herds. Not only is the state conducting surveillance to identify other infections, but they're also putting in measures to respond quickly and prevent movement of that virus to other herds while that dairy is recovering from the infection. The strategies fourth stage involves states unaffected by H5 and dairy cattle, demonstrating an ongoing absence of the virus. Once a state has conducted enough significant testing to demonstrate that there is no virus present, then they can be moved to an unaffected status. Once we get all the states in the country at stage four, we can conduct at least 90 days of surveillance in order to demonstrate to the world that the US is free of this virus in dairy herds. That nationwide demonstration of long term freedom from H5 in dairy cattle makes up the final stage of the National Milk Testing Strategy.ch