WELL, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME TODAY.

>> THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME.

>> SWITCHING TO AGRICULTURE NEWS, A STRAIN OF AVIAN BIRD FLU HAS BEEN FOUND IN DAIRY COWS AND CONFIRMED IN HERDS IN NINE STATES.

WISCONSIN, BUT IT IS IN MICHIGAN.

AND RESEARCHERS FROM UW-MADISON ARE HELPING TO MONITOR THE SPREAD.

JOINING US NOW IS DR. KEITH POULSEN, DIRECTOR OF THE VETERINARY DIAGNOSTIC LABORATORY.

>> THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME.

>> SO THIS PARTICULAR STRAIN OF AVIAN BIRD FLU IS CALLED H5N1 AND YOU'VE BEEN TRACKING IT SINCE 2022.

IS IT SPREADING FASTER NOW?

>> WELL, THIS PARTICULAR STRAIN SINCE 2022, IT'S SPREAD IN THE MIGRATING WILD BIRD POPULATION, HAS ACTUALLY BEEN THE WORST FOREIGN ANIMAL OUTBREAK IN RECENT HISTORY.

IT'S KILLED OVER A HUNDRED THOUSAND BIRDS.

WHEN WE WERE JUST COMING OFF COVID IN 2022, IT WAS AFFECTING SNOWY OWLS AND BALD EAGLES, THEN WE NOTICED IT WAS IN OUR CARNIVORES, LIKE FOX OR OTHER SCAVENGERS, AND WE'VE SEEN THAT EVEN NOW WITH THE SEALS THAT ARE EATING DEAD BIRDS OFF THE COAST OF WASHINGTON STATE.

BUT WHAT REALLY CHANGED IN THE LAST FIVE OR SIX MONTHS WAS THAT WE'VE NOTICED THAT IT HAS NOW COME INTO OUR DAIRY CATTLE POPULATION, WHICH IS A VERY NOVEL EVENT.

>> SO TESTING RIGHT NOW IS LIMIT TO COWS THAT ARE TRANSPORTED OVERSTATE LINES, BUT YOUR REPORT SAYS THAT'S 50,000 COWS A WEEK.

SO HOW SOON BEFORE THAT JUST OVERWHELMS AND PEOPLE MAYBE STOP TESTING?

>> YEAH.

GREAT QUESTION.

I DO THINK THAT TESTING WILL RAMP UP EVEN FURTHER BEFORE WE GET OUT OF THIS OUTBREAK, BUT THAT'S THE BEST WAY THAT WE CONTROL ANIMAL DISEASES, IS MOVEMENT ACROSS STATE LINES WITH THE STATE ANIMAL HEALTH OFFICIALS, BUT I DO THINK THAT WISCONSIN IS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT THAN THIS ONE PARTICULAR BUSINESS MODEL THAT MOVES A LOT OF LACK TAKING THE COWS, BECAUSE THAT'S OUR BIGGEST RISK RIGHT NOW FROM A WHAT WE KNOW.

WE'RE ONLY A COUPLE MONTHS INTO THIS, SO OUR BIGGEST RISK IS REALLY LACTATING COWS.

WISCONSIN DOESN'T MOVE A LOT OF LACTATING COWS INTO THE STATE.

WE TEND TO MOVE PREGNANT TWO-YEAR-OLDS AS THEY'RE BEING AND WE BRING THEM BACK.

IT'S A HIGHER RISK OF MOVING YOUNG LACTATING DAIRY COWS.

>> GOING FROM BIRDS TO MAMMALS, H5N1, AS YOU MENTIONED, FOXES, SEALS, SAW A REPORT ABOUT FARM CATS, POSSIBLY.

ONE PERSON IN TEXAS WHO WAS EXPOSED GOT CONJUNCTIVITIS.

IS THE BIG FEAR THAT THIS TURNS INTO A COVID-19 TRANSMISSION WHERE IT JUMPS INTO HUMAN POPULATION?

>> YEAH.

ON THE PUBLIC HEALTH SIDE, WE'VE KNOWN ABOUT 40 DIFFERENT MAMMALIAN SPECIES THAT HAVE BEEN FROM EATING OR DRINKING RAW MILK ON THE FARMS.

THEY PRESENT VERY DIFFERENTLY THAN OUR DAIRY COWS.

THEY PRESENT WITH NEUROLOGIC DISEASE.

OUR DAIRY COWS PRESENT BEING OFF FEED AND THEN THEY DROP IN MILK PRODUCTION, BUT REALLY WHETHER YOU LOOK AT IT FROM A 30,000-FOOT VIEW IS ON THE PUBLIC HEALTH SIDE, WE KNOW THAT INFLUENZA VIRUSES SCORCHING, THEY REASSORT.

FLU VACCINE EVERY SEASON.

WE HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT THE BARRIERS TO MOVING INTO PEOPLE WHERE IT BECOMES LIKE A PANDEMIC, POTENTIAL PATHOGEN, THEY'RE VERY HIGH.

THERE'S A LOT OF AREAS THAT WOULD PREVENT THAT, BUT IT'S NOT A ZERO RISK, AND THE LONGER WE DON'T HAVE GOOD RISK MITIGATION AND THERE'S MORE VIRUS IN THE ENVIRONMENT OR CIRCULATING IN THE COWS, THE HIGHER THAT RISK BECOMES THAT THE VIRUS WILL CONTINUE TO REASSORT.

>> SO YOU'VE ALSO FOUND GENETIC MATERIAL IN MILK, BUT YOU SAY THAT RIGHT NOW THERE'S NO EVIDENCE THAT A PASTEURIZED MILK PRESENTS ANY PROBLEMS TO SOMEONE CONSUMING IT, BUT RAW MILK IS QUITE POPULAR AND GROWING IN FOR LARRAÑAGAITY.

>> ABSOLUTELY.

AS A PUBLIC HEALTH EXPERT AND ALL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, WHETHER THEY'RE VETERINARIANS OR M.D.s OR JUST OUR RURAL HEALTH PRACTITIONERS, IS THAT RAW MILK PRODUCTS.

I GREW UP ON RAW MILK.

MY KIDS DON'T.

AND SO THE BIGGEST PROPOSITION OF RAW MILK DRINKERS TEND TO BE HIGHLY EDUCATED AND UPPER MIDDLE CLASS, BUT BECAUSE THEY'RE LIVING IN URBAN ENVIRONMENTS, IT'S NOT A GREAT IDEA TO BE CONSUMING RAW DAIRY PRODUCTS AT THIS TIME.

THE PASTEURIZED NIBBLING ORDINANCE FROM 1926 HAS REALLY DECREASED FOOD-BORNE DISEASE FROM DAIRY PRODUCTS AND WE NEED TO MAINTAIN THAT NOW.

>> SO WHAT SHOULD FARMERS BE LOOKING FOR?

>> SO DEFINITELY NEED TO HAVE REGULAR CONVERSATIONS WITH THE HERD VETERINARIAN, SO WE'RE LOOKING FOR COWS THAT ARE USUALLY SECOND LACTATION OR GREATER, SO THREE TO 4 YEARS OLD, AND THEN THEY TEND TO BE MID-TO LATE LACTATION, SO 150 DAYS IN MILK OR SINCE THEY'VE CAVILLED AND THEY TEND TO DROP IN THEIR FEED CONSUMPTION, THEY WEAR RUMINATION MONITORS OR THEY WEAR PEDOMETERS JUST LIKE A SMART WATCH TO KNOW HOW MANY STEPS I'VE TAKEN, AND WHEN I DON'T FEEL WELL, I DON'T TAKE ENOUGH STEPS.

TYPICALLY THE COMPUTERS WILL PULL THEM OUT.

THEN THE PARLOR SOFTWARE WHERE MONITOR A DROP IN MILK AND IT WILL AUTOMATICALLY SORT THEM.

THOSE COWS TEND TO HAVE A FEVER THEN WHEN WE'RE LOOKED AT BUT THEN THEY RECOVER IN ABOUT 10 TO 12 DAYS.

SO, REALLY, WE LOOK AT PEAK INCIDENTS ON FARM, WHICH GOES UP TO 10% AT FOUR TO SIX DAYS.

INCIDENTS DROPS ABOUT TEN OF TO 14 DAYS AND THEN THE HERDS ARE RECOVERED USUALLY BETWEEN 20 AND 45 DAYS AFTER INFECTION.