Wisconsin stays vigilant in protecting dairy cattle from catching bird flu

ATHENS, Wis. (WSAW) - Local farmers and the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) are taking precautions to ensure the state stays clear of avian influenza, as no cases of bird flu have been found in cattle in Wisconsin so far.

Recently, the United States Department of Agriculture found a new type of H5N1 avian influenza in a herd of dairy cattle in Nevada. It is a different genotype of the same infection that is affecting flocks of birds around the country.

DATCP tells NewsChannel 7 they have been sending messages to farmers and people involved in the dairy industry to stay vigilant of the virus and practice increased bio-security.

“Some of those tools can be as simple as washing hands, keeping everything very clean and sanitized with respect to equipment that’s used around animals, including equipment used for feeding and waters and so forth,” State Veterinarian with DATCP, Dr. Darlene Konkle said.

Local dairy farms, like Miltrim Farms in Athens, are heeding the advice, and continuing extra health precautions daily.

“A couple of the big ones are going to be very thorough checking of cattle if we ever need to bring cattle in for whatever reason, or if we buy a few from a neighbor farm, doing testing there,” Miltrim Farms Co-owner David Trimner said. “There’s also some state rules when it comes to how cattle are moved across state lines to help protect the state in general, and the herd here.”

They also limit the wildlife that comes near the herds.

“Being able to control those populations, making sure that they’re staying out of the cattle areas is really important to keeping the cows healthy,” Trimner said.

Miltrim Farms' other practices include removing sick cows from the rest of the herd and performing health checkups while that cow is separated.

Some cows at the farm are robotically milked, and the machines that do the milking can take vitals from the cow that could reveal some illnesses to staff before the cow presents sickness physically. The cows also wear NEDAP collars, what Trimner described as ‘fit-bit monitor for cows.’

In the case there was an outbreak of the bird flu in cattle, DATCP said they have spoken with stakeholders in the agriculture industry, veterinarians, farmers, and the USDA to make plans.

“We would want to be able to detect that virus early if it is here so that we can take measures that would prevent the spread and help producers do the same,” Dr. Konkle said.

Miltrim Farms also has a plan in case one of their herd were to contract the illness.

“We take that cow out, we test all the other cows to the best of our ability and hopefully find everyone else clean and that we don’t have to worry about that,” Trimner explained.

Trimner said the pasteurization of the milk would remove any of the bird flu in the product if it were to be processed.