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State veterinarian urges expanded indemnity fund as HPAI, screwworm and other threats mount
Summary
Colorado's state veterinarian told the legislature HPAI has cost the state nearly 9.7 million domestic birds and affected dairies, and warned of a Mexico-based New World screwworm outbreak; she asked lawmakers to expand the Livestock Disease Indemnity Fund for preparedness and response beyond indemnification.
Colorado's state veterinarian, Dr. Maggie Baldwin, told the Joint Agriculture, Water and Natural Resources Committee that animal-disease threats remain a top risk to Colorado agriculture and asked the General Assembly to expand an indemnity fund to allow faster, state-level preparedness and response.
Dr. Baldwin reported Colorado has had 51 confirmed highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) detections over the past four years, with more than 9.7 million domestic poultry lost statewide and 75% of affected dairies in the country located in Colorado during the 2024 dairy spillover event. "In Colorado, we have had 51 confirmed cases ... Total, we have lost more than 9,700,000 domestic poultry in our state," Baldwin said. She said bulk-tank testing on dairies has helped stop further spread among dairies since the summer 2024 detections.
Baldwin also warned of the New World screwworm outbreak in Mexico and Central America, a parasitic fly whose larvae consume living tissue. Mexico has reported thousands of cases and recent activity near the U.S. border; Colorado agencies held a multi-agency preparedness workshop and are drafting a response plan. The veterinarian described the sterile-insect technique as an effective historical control but noted logistical and production challenges as the outbreak advances northward.
Colorado currently places leftover departmental dollars into a Livestock Disease Indemnity Fund with a narrow statutory scope (direct indemnification). Baldwin asked lawmakers to revise the fund's allowable uses so the department can use it for preparedness and initial response when an outbreak is too small to qualify for federal emergency support or when federal assistance will be delayed. "One of the challenges in my division is we don't have any reserve funding ... We don't have a savings account," she said.
Committee members asked about vaccine development for HPAI (Dr. Baldwin said cattle field trials are ongoing and Colorado has offered to be a pilot state for poultry vaccination strategies), the sterile-insect approach for screwworm, and supply-chain work on drugs and diagnostics. CDA and the veterinarian's office offered to provide follow-up briefings and to host tours of the state insectary and other facilities.
