The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced support for producers with H5N1-infected facilities to improve biosecurity within their facilities to reduce the spread of H5N1 infection. Additionally, USDA is taking steps to provide available financing for milk production losses in H5N1-affected herds.
These actions, based on a federal order addressing pre-move testing, give producers tools they can use to keep affected herds and workers healthy and reduce the risk of spreading the virus to other herds. More will be provided, the Department of Agriculture said.
USDA will provide financial assistance (including The company announced that it will provide up to $2,000 per month for each facility that receives the funds. Control and Prevention (CDC) Workplace and Farmworker Research.
Complementing USDA's new financial support for producers, workers who participate in research will be compensated for their time, regardless of whether the research is led by federal, state, or local public health experts. You will also be eligible to receive financial incentives.
Additionally, USDA will provide assistance (up to $1,500 per affected facility) to develop a biosecurity plan based on your existing safe milk supply plan. This includes enhanced biosecurity recommended for individuals who frequently move between dairy farms, such as milk transporters, veterinarians, feed trucks, and AI technicians. USDA will also offer a $100 payment to producers who purchase and use an inline sampler for their milk systems.
Funding is also included for thermal processing to process milk in a biosafe way. USDA said this provides producers with a safe option to dispose of milk. Heat treatment, performed according to standards set by the Food and Drug Administration, is the only method currently available that appears to effectively inactivate viruses in milk. If a producer establishes a system that heat-treats all waste milk before disposal, USDA will pay the producer up to $2,000 per month for each affected facility.
Producers will be reimbursed for veterinary costs associated with facilities that test positive for H5N1. USDA says this will provide producers with assistance to cover the veterinary costs that inevitably occur in treating cattle infected with H5N1, as well as fees for veterinarians to collect samples for testing. Stated. This may include veterinary fees and certain supplies needed for treatment and sample collection. Veterinary costs will be covered up to $10,000 per affected facility from the first day NVSL confirms a positive case for that farm.
USDA will pay to transport the samples to National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) laboratories for testing. USDA will pay actual shipping costs for up to two shipments per month per affected facility, not to exceed $50 per shipment. Testing at his NAHLN laboratory of samples related to this event (including pre-movement, testing of sick/suspected animals, and samples from the producers involved) is already being carried out free of charge to producers.
Collectively, these tools are worth up to $28,000 per facility to support enhanced biosecurity efforts over the next 120 days, USDA said.
USDA is also taking steps to make funds available from the Emergency Assistance Program for Livestock, Bees, and Farmed Fish (ELAP) to compensate eligible producers with positive herds who have suffered milk production losses. We are teaching. Although dairy cows infected with H5N1 generally recover well and mortality from the disease is negligible, milk production is severely limited and results in economic losses for producers with affected facilities. USDA can assist farmers with the ELAP program and help offset some of these losses. This compensation program is different from a strategy to control the spread of infection.
Additionally, to reduce the further spread of this virus, the Department of Agriculture has announced that states with affected herds are considering travel restrictions within their borders to further limit the spread of H5N1 infection among herds. He said he would cooperate and support the action.
USDA will make $98 million of existing funding available to APHIS to fund these efforts. If necessary, USDA has the authority to make additional funds available upon notice of Congress.
According to USDA, these additional actions build on a series of actions USDA has previously taken. This includes enforcing federal mandates to limit the spread of the disease, coordinating with federal partners to share expertise and testing capacity, and increasing efforts with producers to practice appropriate biosecurity measures. , and continuing research to understand how the virus spreads within the country. The sequences are then analyzed and shared with verified epidemiological information between farms.
The U.S. government is urgently addressing this situation through a whole-of-government approach. USDA works closely with our federal partners at the Food and Drug Administration, which has primary responsibility for the safety of milk and dairy products, by supporting the conduct of clinical testing in USDA laboratories. USDA is also working closely with federal partners at the CDC, who have primary responsibilities for public health, and is working closely with federal partners at the CDC, who have primary responsibilities for public health, to help growers and industry collaborate with public health officials on the critical needs needed to assess the level of risk to human health. We encourage you to obtain this information.
Further details on how producers can access and apply for financial tools will be announced in due course.
Funded by HHS, CDC, and FDA
USDA Health and Human Services (HHS) also announced new financial investments totaling $101 million through CDC and FDA to reduce H5N1 risks and continue H5N1 testing, prevention, and treatment efforts. did. Although the CDC's assessment of the risk of avian influenza infection for the general public remains low at this time, these investments are said to reflect the agency's commitment to prioritizing the health and safety of Americans.
Public health and animal health professionals and institutions have been preparing for avian influenza outbreaks for 20 years. HHS said its primary responsibility is to protect public health and the safety of the food supply.
The CDC announced that it has identified an additional $93 million to support ongoing response efforts against avian influenza. Building on bipartisan investments in public health, this funding will allow CDC to build on the influenza foundation it has built over the past 20 years, particularly on the work CDC has done nationally and globally to prevent, detect, and respond to avian influenza. will be able to take advantage of it.
These investments will enable CDC to strengthen testing and laboratory capacity, surveillance, and genomic sequencing, support jurisdiction and partner efforts to reach high-risk populations, and launch new wastewater surveillance pilots. It will be possible.
Additionally, the FDA announced that an additional $8 million is available to support ongoing response efforts to ensure the safety of the commercial milk supply. This funding will support the agency's ability to verify pasteurization standards, conduct monitoring at various points in the milk production system, strengthen laboratory capacity, and provide the resources needed to train staff on biosecurity procedures. To do. Additionally, these funds will help support H5N1 efforts in partnership with state co-regulatory partners who manage state programs as part of the federal/state milk safety system. It also could allow the FDA to partner with universities on important research questions.
Additional Information:
For more information about USDA's response to H5N1 in dairy cattle, please visit: www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-detections/livestock.
For more information about CDC's response to H5N1, visit: www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/mammals.htm.
For more information about the FDA's response to H5N1, please visit: www.fda.gov/food/alerts-advisories-safety-information/updates-highly-pathogenic-avian-influenza-hpai
