A new federal order, the National Milk Testing Strategy (NMTS), was released by the USDA last Friday, December 6th, with the goal of safeguarding dairy herds and dairy workers from the H5N1 virus. Testing via NMTS is scheduled to begin next Monday, December 16th with the following six states: California, Colorado, Michigan, Mississippi, Oregon, and Pennsylvania. All states will be included going forward, but there is no set date for the start of testing through NMTS in New York State at this point. As of today, there have not been any positive dairy herds identified through surveillance bulk milk testing or individual animal testing in NY.
Producers will not incur any expenses for testing through NMTS. As you can see below, individual herds will only be tested if the virus is first detected in milk at the dairy processing facility to which they ship. Although this could be viewed with trepidation by many herds, the overarching benefit for public health and for the health of our dairy industry is great.
The NMTS will be rolled out in the following stages (adapted from USDA press release 12/6/24):
Stage 1: Mandatory USDA National Plant Silo Monitoring:
This involves nationwide testing of milk silos at dairy processing facilities to determine where the disease currently is, monitor trends and act as the first step to identify affected herds.
Stage 2: Determining a State’s H5N1 Dairy Cattle Status
The USDA will collaborate with states to sample individual farm bulk tanks when necessary based on milk silo test results at the dairy processing facility.
Stage 3: Detecting and Responding to the Virus in Affected States
If H5N1 is detected in a state, the next step is working with APHIS to identify affected animals and put in to place the same measures that they have been up until now (biosecurity, movement controls and contact tracing).
Stage 4: Demonstrating Ongoing Absence of H5 in Dairy Cattle in Unaffected States
Once all dairy herds in a given state are considered to be unaffected, APHIS will continue regular sampling of farms’ bulk tanks to ensure the disease does not re-emerge. Bulk tank sampling frequency will progressively decline as the state demonstrates continual silo negativity (e.g., weekly, monthly, quarterly if continually negative). If a state becomes affected, USDA will re-engage detection and response activities, and the state will return to Stage 3.
Stage 5: Demonstrating Freedom from H5 in U.S. Dairy Cattle
After all states move through Stage Four, APHIS will work with the states to begin periodic sampling and testing to illustrate long-term absence from the national herd.
As states begin testing under the NMTS and as they move through the five stages, their progress will be shared at USDA HPAI in Livestock Testing. You can check here for the Confirmed Cases of HPAI in Livestock.
