Dairy farmers who have not detected H5N1 in their cows are now eligible for funding to collect samples for testing, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Thursday.
The USDA will help them pay to ship samples and reimburse them for veterinary costs incurred in collecting them.
“The U.S. government is addressing this situation with urgency,” the USDA said in a statement.
The announcement comes one day after a second worker in Michigan tested positive for the bird virus, following an outbreak of H5N1 in dairy cows in late March. In April, a dairy farm worker in Texas was also infected. Both workers experienced eye infections.
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, also known as bird or avian flu, can be transmitted by wild birds to domestic poultry and other bird and animal species, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Bird flu does not normally infect humans, though sporadic infections in people have occurred.
H5N1 has been detected in dairy cows in nine states, including California, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico and Texas. In early May, the USDA announced various funding options for dairy farmers with affected herds.
Thursday’s announcement extends those programs to dairy producers with unaffected herds and is based on recommendations from industry stakeholders and state officials, the USDA said. The intent is to equip producers “with tools they can use to keep their herds and workers healthy and reduce risk of the virus spreading to additional herds.”
USDA is offering $1,500 per farm to develop and implement biosecurity plans, as well as $2,000 per farm in veterinary cost reimbursements and $50 per month to cover shipping costs for lab samples.
Earlier this month, the USDA reaffirmed the country’s meat supply is safe, following a first round of ground beef samples that tested negative for bird flu. The Food and Drug Administration has also declared the milk supply is safe, following several forms of testing.
