THE US Department of Agriculture has committed the equivalent of A$1.25 billion towards managing the country’s latest outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, currently sweeping US chicken and turkey farms and more recently jumping species into dairy cattle.

One estimate suggests about 17 million birds, mostly table egg layer hens but also turkeys, have been destroyed due to latest HPAI outbreaks.

USDA has also reported that some 69 dairy herds in nine US states – mostly in Michigan, Texas, Idaho and New Mexico – have now tested positive for the disease. Symptoms observed in cattle have proven to be much more mild than in bird species.

Nevertheless the USDA has announced a number of efforts as it supports producers for losses related to these outbreaks and also provide consumers with information that dairy and meat products are safe.

Reflecting just how seriously the USDA is taking the latest outbreak, the department last week announced US$824 million in new funding to support the HPAI effort in both dairy and poultry.

USDA also announced a voluntary H5N1 testing process for dairy.

Last Thursday, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service released results of the condemned cull dairy cow sampling for HPAI. No viral particles were detected in 108 out of 109 muscle samples. Viral particles were detected in tissue samples, including diaphragm muscle, from a single cow. No meat from these dairy cattle entered the food chain, the department said.

The same day, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed a second human case of influenza A (H5) in Michigan, marking the third human case tied to the dairy outbreak.

The case was in a dairy worker who reported upper respiratory tract symptoms and eye discomfort. As with previous cases, symptoms were mild, and the patient’s symptoms are resolving, USDA said.