Minnesota dairy cows to be tested for bird flu
Minnesota will begin testing raw milk from dairy cows to see if they have H5N1 bird flu starting Monday.
"Every farm in the state will be tested once a month," said Dan Glessing, who owns Glessing Family Farm near Waverly. It's a reality he has already come to terms with.
"If you do test positive, you are quarantined for 30 days. You have to have three consecutive negative tests to lift that quarantine," said Glessing.
The challenging thing is that nothing can leave the farm during quarantine — livestock, manure, even cats — unless the farmer can get a permit from the Minnesota Board of Animal Health.
"For instance, we have another farm site that we have some heifers on. We are hauling them back and forth. We wouldn't be able to do that," said Glessing.
Glessing said the good news is that so far H5N1 hasn't been as fatal for dairy cows, as it has been for poultry. The bad news is it can be hard to tell if a cow has the flu. Loss of milk production is often the only symptom.
"And that's kind of the unknown. A lot of cows don't show symptoms that they have it, so it's hard to know whether you have it or not," said Glessing.
He said there is talk of a bird flu vaccine for dairy cows. One they could administer to calves shortly after they are born. But it's not ready yet and the details are still being worked out. He said the testing won't be intrusive, but it will tell a lot.
"Any time you have a disease outbreak, you want to minimize. Whether it's poultry, whether it's cattle. You really want to minimize the effects," said Glessing.
Glessing said the testing won't be too involved for famers because the samples will be taken during scheduled collections of milk at dairy farms. He said it's a good reminder that milk sold in stores is safe because it's pasteurized, which kills bacteria and viruses.
