H5N1 Work by USDA Pt 1
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. The H5N1 virus, or bird flu, continues to make headlines due to its impact on the dairy industry and in the poultry industry from where it originated.
And as we’re learning, according to Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack, those effects differ broadly from poultry to dairy …
VILSACK … “On the poultry side, we're dealing with a virus that kills, so it's relatively simple. You depopulate the virus-stricken flock, you disinfect the facility, you wait a bit, and then the farmer gets back in business. That is not the case with reference to dairy. The good news is that cows survive. They get sick for a period of time, a short period of time, and they recover. Maybe their production is impacted a bit, but for all intents and purposes, they get back to normal, and that's a good thing.”
Vilsack says it’s important for the public to be informed and updated on the virus, and to know that the milk they’re drinking is safe …
VILSACK … “We know that the milk that they produce, ultimately, is safe because of pasteurization. We know the beef produced from those cows at some point in time is also safe, based on our testing, and we know there is very little, at this point in time, low risk to people. Having said that, it's very disruptive, obviously, to dairy herds that have been hit by this. The good news is that we're learning more about what to do.
Tune in tomorrow when we hear more from Vilsack on what’s being done to stop the spread of the H5N1, bird flu virus.
