Department of Agriculture To Start Testing Milk Supply For Bird Flu After Virus Detected In Nearly a Third of U.S. States

U.S. farmers and dairy processors will have to start providing samples or raw milk at the government's request after the Department of Agriculture announced new rules for the country's supply due to increasing bird flu concerns.

The decision comes nearly a year after the virus began circulating through dairy cattle and as H5N1 has been detected in 720 herds across 15 states. However, experts believe the figure is a vast underestimation given the absence of mandatory testing, something harshly criticized by experts including the World Health Organization (WHO).

Until now there was voluntary guidance, but many producers failed to comply, leaving officials in the dark. At least 58 people, most of them farm workers, have contracted the disease, which does not spread easily among humans.

The Department of Agriculture will now begin testing bulk samples of unpasteurized milk from different facilities across the country. Farm owners with infected herds will be required to provide details that could help officials identify cases and contacts. The rule will also apply to private laboratories and state veterinarians.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsak said that the change will "give farmers and farmworkers better confidence in the safety of their animals and ability to protect themselves." It will also "put us on a path to quickly controlling and stopping the virus's spread nationwide," he added. The first round of testing is expected to begin the week of December 16 in six states: California, Colorado, Michigan, Mississippi, Oregon and Pennsylvania.