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State begins monthly bulk-tank testing amid national HPAI spillover to dairy cattle; milk pasteurization remains effective
Summary
Agency food-safety staff told the Senate Agriculture Committee the cattle strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) appears to spread cattle-to-cattle or via fomites; Vermont has begun monthly bulk-tank testing of dairy farms and said pasteurization inactivates the virus.
Eby Florie, director of Food Safety and Consumer Protection at the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, told the Senate Agriculture Committee that the agency and federal partners are monitoring a novel HPAI strain that has spilled over from birds into dairy cattle in other states and that the state has started monthly bulk-tank surveillance of Vermont dairy farms.
“We are testing each one of our care cow dairy farms once a month,” Florie said, describing a nascent surveillance program the agency began with USDA collaboration; she reported about 50 farms had been tested in the program’s first weeks and all results were negative.
Florie described the current understanding of the outbreak’s epidemiology: the U.S. case that first showed the cattle strain began in Texas and federal tracing suggests the cattle-strain virus is spreading from cow to cow or via contaminated equipment or clothing rather than repeatedly jumping directly from wild birds to cows.
She also briefed the committee on food-safety implications, citing federal guidance: “Pasteurization eliminates the virus,” Florie said, adding that the Food and Drug Administration and industry partners had confirmed pasteurized milk remains safe for consumers. If a Vermont farm tests positive, Florie said the agency’s animal-health staff would work with the producer to quarantine the herd, restrict animal movements and use targeted steps such as routing animals for direct slaughter rather than open auction where appropriate.
Florie said the cattle strain’s isolation in other states has sometimes followed animal movements between facilities, and that USDA has increased surveillance and imposed movement requirements for lactating dairy cattle leaving states since April 2024. She emphasized that, to date, New England and New York had not reported cattle-strain positives and that the state’s early testing was part of an effort to detect and respond quickly if the virus appears in the region.
Ending
The agency urged veterinarians and producers to report symptomatic animals; Florie said the state will continue monthly bulk-tank testing while coordinating with USDA and industry partners on surveillance and response.
