United States: Experts believed that the H5N1 bird flu that ravaged dairy herds in 13 states would inevitably arrive in California.
However, the state is still investigating exactly how it happened.
More about the news
The chief executive of Western State Dairies, a trade organization for California dairy farmers, Anja Raudabaugh, could verify one of the prospecting stories that floated around.
In late July or August, a Tulare County dairy farmer allegedly sold some of his cows to a farmer from Idaho, who had been recording infected cattle since April, latimes.com reported.
The farmer in Idaho sent the cows back because he was discontent with the quality of the cows from California, as per the story.
Somewhere along the transfer between states, the cows were infected, and the virus was not discovered until it reached the terminal stage.
What more are the experts stating?
As a spokesman for California’s Department of Food and Agriculture, Steve Lyle, who has not confirmed the story, mentioned that the investigation was ongoing. However, he said that the genetic sequencing of the virus detected in California is “most similar to the strain found in cattle in the state of Idaho.
Sydney Kennedy, a spokesperson for Idaho’s Department of Agriculture, seemed aware of the story. But she confirmed that earlier this summer, “an Idaho dairy received a shipment of cattle from California that were not accepted at the facility.”
She mentioned that when something like that happens, “it is up to each hauler or broker to understand and follow movement restrictions as they return to their home state or other destinations.”
What do the rules state?
It is not definitely known where the breakdown occurred in the company. In this sense, the U.S. Department of Agriculture permits the shipment of cattle across state lines, latimes.com reported.
However, since the beginning of the outbreak, it has insisted that any move of lactating dairy cows across state lines would only be allowed when accompanied by veterinary certifications – certifications which show that the animals were tested for bird flu within a week of transfer.
The flow of cattle from one state to another is massive. According to Lyle’s estimate, the number of cattle imported into the state is 275,000 – 300,000 per year.
At present, there are as many as 1,300 farms for dairy animals and 1.7 million dairy cattle in California. The USDA also reports that on January 1 this year, there were about 5.1 million cows, steers, bulls, and calves in the state.
Since this year, H5N1 was identified in dairy cattle, the federal government and affected states have attempted to prevent the virus from straying into new areas by enforcing state border closure.
The USDA has conducted a study on the Idaho Department of Agriculture. It also urges farmers to isolate “new additions” separately for three to four weeks.
According to Kennedy, the spokesperson, “Idaho was the first to implement movement restrictions, as well as quarantines of facilities,” and “Our dairies were the first in the country to follow quarantine measures — well before anything was put in place at a federal level.”
California currently does not have a regulation of any kind that exists after animals are moved into the farm, except for indications of the disease.
