USDA Declares Minnesota’s Dairy Farms Bird Flu Free

By Tadeo Ruiz Sandoval

After four straight months of raw milk testing in Minnesota’s dairy farms without detecting the H5N1 avian influenza virus, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated the state’s dairy herds as “unaffected” by the virus.

The USDA ordered nationwide testing after multiple states confirmed the virus was present in dairy cattle. Minnesota reported nine cases last year. 

In response, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture tested raw milk batches every month since February. 

“Every single time milk is picked up from a dairy farm, there’s a sample collected,” the director of the state’s ag department dairy and meat inspection division, Nicole Neeser, said. “Every day of every year, all the time.”

Neeser’s team coordinated with industry labs to create a schedule of farms to collect samples from each week of the month. 

Only one avian influenza case was confirmed in March and none since.