Vermont health, agriculture officials outline H5N1 risks and steps for dairy and poultry sectors

At a joint meeting of the Vermont House committees on Healthcare and Agriculture, Food Resiliency, & Forestry, Dr. Mark Levine of the Vermont Department of Health said H5N1 avian influenza has produced extensive illness in wild birds and animals and has recently affected dairy herds, but remains a low risk for the general public.

The issue matters because H5N1 has killed large numbers of birds, sickened mammals including dairy cattle, and carries a theoretical risk of reassortment with human influenza viruses. That could, officials said, increase the virus's ability to spread among people. State agencies described surveillance, testing and outreach steps aimed at early detection, worker protection and limiting spread between animals and people.

"The CDC continues to list avian influenza as a low risk proposition for humans and the general public," Dr. Mark Levine said, adding that the risk is higher for people who work directly with animals. Levine told lawmakers that nationwide roughly 1,000 herds have been implicated, with more than 700 in California; in the United States fewer than 70 human cases have been documented and worldwide there have been about 900 human infections of various strains over the last 25 years.

State officials described three main prevention and surveillance efforts. First, Vermont has begun monthly bulk-milk testing of every farm; samples are tested individually and not pooled, Agency of Agriculture official E.B. Florey said. "When those samples are sent to Cornell, they are not pulled together. So they are sent individually marked, from each farm," Florey said, and that practice is intended to speed identification of a positive farm and follow-up.

Second, health department surveillance includes targeted testing of hospitalized patients with severe influenza-like illness: specimens from hospitalized patients are sent for additional testing to determine whether infections are routine human influenza or something unexpected, Levine said. Third, the agencies have offered personal protective equipment to dairy operations and issued a joint letter to the dairy industry; officials said uptake has been uneven but some farms have requested PPE.

Officials also described readiness steps taken after a tabletop exercise last summer that included state agencies, farmers, hospitals and community partners such as Bridges to Health. That exercise identified communication gaps with migrant and multilingual farmworker communities; state agencies said they are expanding translated materials, using messaging apps and partnering with trusted community organizations to reach affected workers.

Vaccination and antiviral treatment were presented as important defenses. Levine noted general influenza vaccination rates in Vermont were roughly 40 percent in February 2024 and about 34 percent at the time of the briefing. He said antiviral drugs remain available and that candidate avian influenza vaccines exist in stockpiles and in development, but that stockpiles are not sized for a large-scale human outbreak.

Lawmakers asked for details about the strain and spread. Agency officials and Levine said the strain now commonly detected in wildlife and some livestock is being called D1.1 (H5N1 D1.1). E.B. Florey said the Nevada dairy detections involved wildlife-to-cow transmission and that each affected farm showed slightly different viral sequences, which pointed to separate introductions rather than cattle movement between farms. "The strain that they have in Nevada is the strain that has been going across the country that Dr. Levine's talking about in the wildlife birds," Florey said.

Representatives also raised concerns about federal capacity and misinformation. Levine said federal agencies continue to be reachable and that many standard pandemic response tools remain available, but he expressed concern that public misinformation and lower vaccine uptake could complicate response efforts.

No formal votes or statutory changes were taken at the meeting. Officials described current operational steps: monthly individual bulk-milk testing, heightened surveillance of hospitalized influenza cases, offering PPE to dairy farms, contact-tracing plans if a farm is positive, and expanded translated communications and trusted-messenger outreach to farmworker communities.

Officials urged basic protections for farmworkers and animal handlers: handwashing, eye protection because some human cases involved conjunctivitis, avoiding bringing farm-contaminated clothing into homes, and using PPE when animals appear sick. Levine said the state would apply standard contact-tracing and monitoring protocols for exposed workers and would adapt testing if viral genotypes change.

Lawmakers asked several technical questions about animal movement and interstate monitoring; Agency of Agriculture staff said animal movement is controlled by federal USDA/APHIS rules and Vermont's animal movement statutes, and that animal health certificates and permits are required for interstate movement. Agency staff added that New England states have not routinely received animals from the heavily affected western states, which officials said is one factor that has so far limited Vermont's exposure.

The committees concluded the briefing with acknowledgement that the situation remains dynamic and with plans for continuing interagency coordination. Officials said they will continue monthly milk testing, maintain communication with federal partners and community organizations, and follow up with lawmakers on any changes in surveillance or detection.