From staff reports The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced May 30 it is taking additional actions to combat H5N1 avian influenza in livestock.
The USDA is adding $824 million in emergency funding from the Commodity Credit Corporation to better mitigate risk and launch a new Voluntary H5N1 Dairy Herd Status Pilot Program, giving producers more options for herd health monitoring, moving cows more quickly for testing, and expanding the USDA’s understanding of the disease.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack approved the transfer of $824 million from CCC to Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services for swift HPAI/H5N1 response. This supports diagnostics, field response, testing, surveillance and vaccine development. The USDA previously approved $1.3 billion in emergency funding to address HPAI detections in wild birds and commercial poultry operations, but this extra funding will help bolster future efforts.
APHIS’s Voluntary H5N1 Dairy Herd Status Pilot Program offers alternative testing and movement options to increase monitoring. Producers who find negative herd tests for three weeks gain flexibility in shipping without individual animal testing. States enrolled in the pilot phase may join after June 3, 2024. The USDA encourages benefit enrollment and the potentiality of state disease-free statuses. Herds that are not enrolled continue following interstate testing and movement requirements published in the Federal Order. Program details are available on the APHIS website.