WELL, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME TODAY.
>> THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME. >> SWITCHING TO AGRICULTURE
NEWS, A STRAIN OF AVIAN BIRD FLU HAS BEEN FOUND IN DAIRY COWS AND
CONFIRMED IN HERDS IN NINE STATES.
WISCONSIN, BUT IT IS IN MICHIGAN.
AND RESEARCHERS FROM UW-MADISON ARE HELPING TO MONITOR THE
SPREAD. JOINING US NOW IS DR. KEITH
POULSEN, DIRECTOR OF THE VETERINARY DIAGNOSTIC
LABORATORY. >> THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME.
>> SO THIS PARTICULAR STRAIN OF AVIAN BIRD FLU IS CALLED H5N1
AND YOU'VE BEEN TRACKING IT SINCE 2022.
IS IT SPREADING FASTER NOW? >> WELL, THIS PARTICULAR STRAIN
SINCE 2022, IT'S SPREAD IN THE MIGRATING WILD BIRD POPULATION,
HAS ACTUALLY BEEN THE WORST FOREIGN ANIMAL OUTBREAK IN
RECENT HISTORY. IT'S KILLED OVER A HUNDRED
THOUSAND BIRDS. WHEN WE WERE JUST COMING OFF
COVID IN 2022, IT WAS AFFECTING SNOWY OWLS AND BALD EAGLES, THEN
WE NOTICED IT WAS IN OUR CARNIVORES, LIKE FOX OR OTHER
SCAVENGERS, AND WE'VE SEEN THAT EVEN NOW WITH THE SEALS THAT ARE
EATING DEAD BIRDS OFF THE COAST OF WASHINGTON STATE.
BUT WHAT REALLY CHANGED IN THE LAST FIVE OR SIX MONTHS WAS THAT
WE'VE NOTICED THAT IT HAS NOW COME INTO OUR DAIRY CATTLE
POPULATION, WHICH IS A VERY NOVEL EVENT.
>> SO TESTING RIGHT NOW IS LIMIT TO COWS THAT ARE TRANSPORTED
OVERSTATE LINES, BUT YOUR REPORT SAYS THAT'S 50,000 COWS A WEEK.
SO HOW SOON BEFORE THAT JUST OVERWHELMS AND PEOPLE MAYBE STOP
TESTING? >> YEAH.
GREAT QUESTION. I DO THINK THAT TESTING WILL
RAMP UP EVEN FURTHER BEFORE WE GET OUT OF THIS OUTBREAK, BUT
THAT'S THE BEST WAY THAT WE CONTROL ANIMAL DISEASES, IS
MOVEMENT ACROSS STATE LINES WITH THE STATE ANIMAL HEALTH
OFFICIALS, BUT I DO THINK THAT WISCONSIN IS A LITTLE BIT
DIFFERENT THAN THIS ONE PARTICULAR BUSINESS MODEL THAT
MOVES A LOT OF LACK TAKING THE COWS, BECAUSE THAT'S OUR BIGGEST
RISK RIGHT NOW FROM A WHAT WE KNOW.
WE'RE ONLY A COUPLE MONTHS INTO THIS, SO OUR BIGGEST RISK IS
REALLY LACTATING COWS. WISCONSIN DOESN'T MOVE A LOT OF
LACTATING COWS INTO THE STATE. WE TEND TO MOVE PREGNANT
TWO-YEAR-OLDS AS THEY'RE BEING AND WE BRING THEM BACK.
IT'S A HIGHER RISK OF MOVING YOUNG LACTATING DAIRY COWS.
>> GOING FROM BIRDS TO MAMMALS, H5N1, AS YOU MENTIONED, FOXES,
SEALS, SAW A REPORT ABOUT FARM CATS, POSSIBLY.
ONE PERSON IN TEXAS WHO WAS EXPOSED GOT CONJUNCTIVITIS.
IS THE BIG FEAR THAT THIS TURNS INTO A COVID-19 TRANSMISSION
WHERE IT JUMPS INTO HUMAN POPULATION?
>> YEAH. ON THE PUBLIC HEALTH SIDE, WE'VE
KNOWN ABOUT 40 DIFFERENT MAMMALIAN SPECIES THAT HAVE BEEN
FROM EATING OR DRINKING RAW MILK ON THE FARMS.
THEY PRESENT VERY DIFFERENTLY THAN OUR DAIRY COWS.
THEY PRESENT WITH NEUROLOGIC DISEASE.
OUR DAIRY COWS PRESENT BEING OFF FEED AND THEN THEY DROP IN MILK
PRODUCTION, BUT REALLY WHETHER YOU LOOK AT IT FROM A
30,000-FOOT VIEW IS ON THE PUBLIC HEALTH SIDE, WE KNOW THAT
INFLUENZA VIRUSES SCORCHING, THEY REASSORT.
FLU VACCINE EVERY SEASON. WE HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT THE
BARRIERS TO MOVING INTO PEOPLE WHERE IT BECOMES LIKE A
PANDEMIC, POTENTIAL PATHOGEN, THEY'RE VERY HIGH.
THERE'S A LOT OF AREAS THAT WOULD PREVENT THAT, BUT IT'S NOT
A ZERO RISK, AND THE LONGER WE DON'T HAVE GOOD RISK MITIGATION
AND THERE'S MORE VIRUS IN THE ENVIRONMENT OR CIRCULATING IN
THE COWS, THE HIGHER THAT RISK BECOMES THAT THE VIRUS WILL
CONTINUE TO REASSORT. >> SO YOU'VE ALSO FOUND GENETIC
MATERIAL IN MILK, BUT YOU SAY THAT RIGHT NOW THERE'S NO
EVIDENCE THAT A PASTEURIZED MILK PRESENTS ANY PROBLEMS TO SOMEONE
CONSUMING IT, BUT RAW MILK IS QUITE POPULAR AND GROWING IN FOR
LARRAÑAGAITY. >> ABSOLUTELY.
AS A PUBLIC HEALTH EXPERT AND ALL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, WHETHER
THEY'RE VETERINARIANS OR M.D.s OR JUST OUR RURAL HEALTH
PRACTITIONERS, IS THAT RAW MILK PRODUCTS.
I GREW UP ON RAW MILK. MY KIDS DON'T.
AND SO THE BIGGEST PROPOSITION OF RAW MILK DRINKERS TEND TO BE
HIGHLY EDUCATED AND UPPER MIDDLE CLASS, BUT BECAUSE THEY'RE
LIVING IN URBAN ENVIRONMENTS, IT'S NOT A GREAT IDEA TO BE
CONSUMING RAW DAIRY PRODUCTS AT THIS TIME.
THE PASTEURIZED NIBBLING ORDINANCE FROM 1926 HAS REALLY
DECREASED FOOD-BORNE DISEASE FROM DAIRY PRODUCTS AND WE NEED
TO MAINTAIN THAT NOW. >> SO WHAT SHOULD FARMERS BE
LOOKING FOR? >> SO DEFINITELY NEED TO HAVE
REGULAR CONVERSATIONS WITH THE HERD VETERINARIAN, SO WE'RE
LOOKING FOR COWS THAT ARE USUALLY SECOND LACTATION OR
GREATER, SO THREE TO 4 YEARS OLD, AND THEN THEY TEND TO BE
MID-TO LATE LACTATION, SO 150 DAYS IN MILK OR SINCE THEY'VE
CAVILLED AND THEY TEND TO DROP IN THEIR FEED CONSUMPTION, THEY
WEAR RUMINATION MONITORS OR THEY WEAR PEDOMETERS JUST LIKE A
SMART WATCH TO KNOW HOW MANY STEPS I'VE TAKEN, AND WHEN I
DON'T FEEL WELL, I DON'T TAKE ENOUGH STEPS.
TYPICALLY THE COMPUTERS WILL PULL THEM OUT.
THEN THE PARLOR SOFTWARE WHERE MONITOR A DROP IN MILK AND IT
WILL AUTOMATICALLY SORT THEM. THOSE COWS TEND TO HAVE A FEVER
THEN WHEN WE'RE LOOKED AT BUT THEN THEY RECOVER IN ABOUT 10 TO
12 DAYS. SO, REALLY, WE LOOK AT PEAK
INCIDENTS ON FARM, WHICH GOES UP TO 10% AT FOUR TO SIX DAYS.
INCIDENTS DROPS ABOUT TEN OF TO 14 DAYS AND THEN THE HERDS ARE
RECOVERED USUALLY BETWEEN 20 AND 45 DAYS AFTER INFECTION.