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Board of Animal Health: H5N1 continues; mandatory milk testing to start as poultry, dairy and human detections persist
Summary
Dr. Brian Hayes, state veterinarian and executive director of the Minnesota Board of Animal Health, told the Senate committee that H5N1 influenza remains active, that the board and the Department of Agriculture will start USDA-mandated milk testing in early February, and that the agency is stretched by sustained emergency response demands.
Dr. Brian Hayes, state veterinarian and executive director of the Minnesota Board of Animal Health, told the Senate committee on Jan. 22 that highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI/H5N1) remains active in Minnesota and the nation and that the board is preparing for expanded dairy surveillance as a mandatory national milk-testing strategy rolls out.
"This virus is not going away," Hayes said, describing a string of poultry and dairy detections since 2022 and noting a new detection in Wadena County earlier in the week. He told senators the board and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture will begin a stage-2 milk-testing approach in the first week of February and that pasteurization remains an effective control for milk entering commercial processing.
Key points from Hayes and the board briefing
- Current detections and scope: Hayes said Minnesota's most recent poultry detection (announced Jan. 21, 2025) prompted depopulation at a turkey flock. He updated the committee from 11 to 12 recent poultry premises and reported 8…
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