Milk and meat supplies remain safe as states monitor for bird flu in cows

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced Monday, March 25, 2024, that Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) had been detected in dairy cows. The commercial milk and meat supplies remain safe for consumption due to federal requirements and pasteurization and pose no risk of transmission of HPAI to the public.

“Dairies are required to send only milk from healthy animals into processing for human consumption; milk from impacted animals is being diverted or destroyed so that it does not enter the food supply,” the USDA wrote in the news release on Monday. “In addition, pasteurization has continually proven to inactivate bacteria and viruses, like influenza, in milk. Pasteurization is required for any milk entering interstate commerce.”

This means all milk entering the state must be pasteurized, which inactivates bacteria and viruses, like influenza, in milk. In addition, raw milk is illegal in Nevada, meaning all commercially available milk has also been pasteurized.

The USDA, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as state veterinary and public health officials, had previously been investigating an illness among dairy cows in Texas, Kansas and New Mexico causing decreased lactation, low appetite and other symptoms. There have been no reported cases in beef cattle, and there are currently no suspected cases in Nevada. 

“The Nevada Department of Agriculture (NDA) has been monitoring the spread of illness among dairy cattle in these three states,” said NDA Director Goicoechea, DVM. “Now that a cause has been determined, our producers can be better prepared to prevent the spread to their herds. As always, we encourage the practice of good health safety measures.”

Proper health safety measures are outlined on the NDA website and include:

• Wash hands before and after coming in contact with birds.
• Limit the number of people that come in contact with your animals to those necessary for their care.
• Clean and disinfect equipment before and after each use.
• Do not share tools or supplies.
• Minimize exposure to and avoid attracting wild birds and waterfowl by securing feed, not using wild bird feeders on or near the premises and remove pooling or ponding water.
• Quarantine sick birds or bag and seal deceased birds immediately and report to your veterinarian and the NDA Animal Disease Lab at 775-353-3709 or diseasereporting@agri.nv.gov.

About the Nevada Department of Agriculture

The Nevada Department of Agriculture (NDA) mission is to preserve, protect and promote Nevada’s agriculture. The department has 225 dedicated employees providing services in its five divisions, Administrative Services, Animal Industry, Measurement Standards, Food and Nutrition, and Plant Health and Compliance. The department’s $288 million budget facilitates regulatory and administrative work in agriculture and food manufacturing industries, protecting public and environmental health and worker safety, and providing food distribution and oversight for the United States Department of Agriculture’s school and community nutrition programs.

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