US: Seven states added for milk testing of HPAI; California declares state of emergency

The USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has announced the second round of states participating in its National Milk Testing Strategy (NMTS), which aims to test raw milk samples for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1. The initial states include California, Colorado, Michigan, Mississippi, Oregon, and Pennsylvania, with Indiana, Maryland, Montana, New York, Ohio, Vermont, and Washington joining soon. The program seeks to include all 48 contiguous states, focusing on major dairy-producing areas and aiming to expand quickly despite varying disease presence. The results will be included in routine testing reports, and any detections will be reported to local health and animal health officials. In response to the outbreak in California, which accounts for 75% of national cases, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency to expedite the response and facilitate more flexible rules for state and local agencies to address the situation. This includes additional flu vaccine doses for agriculture workers to mitigate the risk of concurrent flu infections.