Colorado's state veterinarian yesterday issued a mandatory order for weekly bulk milk-tank testing for highly pathogenic avian influenza, as officials continue to battle the virus in dairy herds, with recent spillover to at least one large layer farm and workers culling the birds.
The order from state veterinarian Maggie Baldwin, DVM, applies to all dairy cow farms licensed by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and took effect yesterday.
Outbreaks hit nearly half of state's licensed dairy farms
It applies to all farms that aren't currently in quarantine and will apply to all affected farms that are released from quarantine. The samples will be collected by CDPHE-certified collection samplers and submitted to the Colorado State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.
With 49 outbreaks in dairy cattle reported by the state's agriculture department so far, Colorado by far has reported the most of any of the 13 affected states. The state has 105 licensed dairy facilities. Weld County has been the state's hardest hit area and is where the B3.13 genotype circulating in dairy cattle was recently confirmed at a massive layer farm.
Outbreaks at two large layer farms in Weld County have recently been linked to seven H5N1 infections in cullers, who are working in barns in heat wave conditions, which make it difficult for personal protective equipment (PPE) to provide optimal protection.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today added one more confirmation in another herd from Colorado to its list of affected dairy farms, raising the national total to 169 from 13 states.
More H5N1 confirmations in poultry
In its latest updates, APHIS also reported one more outbreak at a poultry farm, a commercial table egg pullet facility in Weld County.
Also, APHIS reported detections in three live bird markets in Florida's Miami-Dade County, which together have nearly 800 birds.
Since H5N1 was first detected in US poultry in early 2022, more than 100 million bird losses have been reported across 48 states, according to APHIS.
