Proactive efforts underway to protect dairy herds

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — There have been 985 confirmed cases of avian influenza in dairy cattle across 17 states since first confirmed in March 2024.

There are no confirmed cases of dairy cow infections in Illinois and Indiana. Iowa had 13 confirmed cases on July 9, 2024, all on dairy cow premises.

Over the last 30 days, dairy outbreaks have been limited to California, Idaho, Nevada and Arizona.

Cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza were limited to birds when the outbreak was first confirmed over three years ago.

“The situation changed about a year ago when we started seeing highly pathogenic avian influenza show up in dairy herds outside of Illinois,” said Tasha Bunting, Illinois Farm Bureau director of Commodity Programs and Farm Systems, in a March 5 University of Illinois farmdoc webinar.

“A lot of biosecurity and biosecurity methods have been implemented, starting with depopulating infected poultry farms as a top priority to stop the spread of the virus before it could spread to another location, another bird farm or some of the dairy farms in the other parts of the U.S.

“For a dairy farm that might be infected, they quarantine and isolate the cows that are impacted, physically separating them from other cows, but also keeping species separated, isolating feed and water from other animals on the farm.”

Improving biosecurity practices and protecting other dairy herds through supporting vaccine development are among the ongoing efforts to keep the virus in check.

“Biosecurity encourages our farmers to monitor for movement of people or equipment, requiring testing before our cattle are moving between states, or, in Illinois, before they might enter an exhibition,” Bunting said.

“There’s also cleaning and disinfecting of barns, other equipment or infected areas as improved biosecurity methods.

“Then there’s the monitoring and preventing wildlife from interacting with our livestock either directly or through feed, water and equipment. Those are very important ways to mitigate the risk between wildlife and our dairy farms.

“We also are supporting the development of vaccines for dairy cattle and other species and creating a national vaccine stockpile for use in commercial poultry.”

Dairy Industry Efforts

The dairy industry is developing resources to assist producers improve biosecurity in daily farm operations and enhanced biosecurity measures.

“The National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management Program has resource guides and reference materials as well as checklists that are beneficial to our dairy producers for them to work through. These resources will be helpful in order to maintain a more secure environment for their dairy herds and eliminating that risk on a day-to-day basis,” Bunting said.

“The entire premise behind all of this is to contain the spread of infectious disease or some of those non-infectious diseases that might arise from time to time.”

Additionally, Illinois will begin the National Milk Testing Strategy to help aid in the detection of avian influenza at milk silos in the state.

The Illinois Department of Public Health is leading that effort of surveillance at bulk milk tanks where the agency is pulling samples and testing to discover if there is a presence of HPAI in milk tanks.

“Fortunately, that does not add to the level of testing on the farm at this point. This is already being done at those milk silos or milk processing plants. So, there’s not a need for additional movement onto and off of the farm and amongst other farms at this point,” Bunting said.

“The goal behind this is to help identify infected herds earlier in order to reduce the spread and help protect farmworkers.”

New Strategies

Efforts also include new strategies, addressing challenges and providing farmer support.

“There are some ideas with the new administration on how strategies could include precision depopulation, other enhanced biosecurity measures and then vaccinations for both herds and poultry,” Bunting said.

“One of the challenges behind vaccination is that currently it’s only available in injection form. So, for a poultry producer, that is a lot of bird handling that may not be feasible., But as technology improves, that could become something that is more feasible in the future.

“Another issue with vaccination on the poultry side is it creates some challenges with a few of our trading partners who have not adopted that phase of treatment. That would impact the roughly $6 billion industry with U.S. poultry meat and egg exports.

“It’s something that our U.S. trade partners and U.S. industry is looking toward further discussions to see what might be more advantageous.”

There is also farmer support through various USDA programs when depopulation is needed, as well as lost income for dairy farmers when they may have an outbreak.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends limiting the exposure to infected culling activities or exposure to infected dairy cows by having personal protective equipment available on the farm for workers and owners.

“Fortunately, CDC is not indicating that this is a cause for concern for the general public, but it’s something to be aware of, especially for those on-farm workers that are handling any sick or infected poultry or dairy cattle,” Bunting said.

Measures the CDC are recommending to prevent the transmission from animal to humans include decreasing human exposure time, enhancing PPE guidance, identifying exposed workers and providing appropriate testing, offer testing to asymptomatic workers with a high-risk exposure and increasing outreach and education to farmers and farm workers.

The CDC has provided additional resources such as posters that have been shared with many livestock producers that outlines the various PPE, including fluid-resistant coveralls, waterproof apron, safety goggles or face shield, head or hair cover, and gloves.

The posters that farmers can share with their employees are available in English and Spanish.

Free PPE Program

“Illinois Farm Bureau worked with the Illinois Department of Public Health last summer in order to have PPE for farmworkers who, out of an abundance of caution, were interested in having PPE on hand in the event of an outbreak,” Bunting said.

“We worked with IDPH to develop a JotForm for one-time distribution of PPE that’s available for free to farmers. We worked closely with local health departments and local county Farm Bureau offices in order to distribute PPE to dairy farmers so they can get it into the proper channels.

“Fortunately, at this point in time, there have been no dairy farms that have an HPAI infection here in Illinois, which is great news.

“If farmers are interested in obtaining that equipment and having it on hand just in case or as an extra measure of assurance, they are welcome to reach out to me and we can share that Jotform with them in order to request all of the materials that they think might be helpful, from gloves to aprons to masks to goggles. There are several different options for farmers to choose from.”