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Minnesota to begin mandatory milk testing next week as H5N1 spreads; officials say testing helps isolate outbreaks
Summary
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture said it will begin a mandatory milk-testing program next Monday to detect H5N1 in dairy herds, citing Colorado and California examples where testing helped identify and contain outbreaks.
Commissioner Tom Peterson told the Senate committee that Minnesota will begin mandatory milk testing for H5N1 the Monday after the Feb. 17 hearing and that the state will initially front costs and seek federal reimbursement. "We're gonna be starting that on, on Monday, a week from today," Peterson said. He said the state had difficulty obtaining a timely cooperative agreement with USDA but expected reimbursement and planned to advance funds from the emergency account as needed.
Why it matters: Officials said early detection through farm-level testing can identify infected herds faster than testing only at processing plants, allowing case…
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