Webinar discusses what happens when animal diseases cross boundaries 

For farmers and ranchers, avian influenza and other zoonotic diseases have the potential to disrupt not only the food supply but the entire agricultural industry. 

In a recent webinar, Agri-Pulse founder and publisher Sara Wyant led a panel discussing how federal policies are working to protect livestock and humans and safeguard the food supply. Bird flu was first reported in late March, and ever since then, dairy producers have been looking for ways to safeguard their herds and themselves.  

Included on the webinar were: Sen. John Boozman, R-Arkansas, ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee; Danelle Bickett-Weddle, DVM, veterinary consultant; Doug Ensley, DVM, director of veterinary public health, Boehringer Ingelheim; Jamie Jonker, Ph.D., chief science officer, National Milk Producers Federation; and Jonathan Zack, DVM, director, preparedness and incident coordination, USDA APHIS. 

Boozman said the U.S. Department of Agriculture continues to lead the way in response to current and future animal diseases. 

“It really is so critical that we in Congress consider how to put the right tools in place to bolster animal health programs,” he said. “We have a golden opportunity to do that with the next farm bill.” 

Risk management tools need to be able to meet the needs of farmers and ranchers, he said. Key programs should be able to support them when weather and/or animal disease occur.  

“Animal disease outbreaks are among the biggest risks that they face,” he said. “The good news is that everyone in Washington takes this threat seriously.” 

Boozman said robust investments in animal health programs need to be in the farm bill. He said the USDA’s three-legged stool of programs include supporting animal health labs, establishing cooperative agreements with states and other partners and investing in the vaccine bank.  

“The framework also improves assistance for poultry growers impacted by business interruption stemming from avian influenza,” he said. “We cannot ignore the ongoing avian influenza outbreak we’re seeing in both dairy cattle and poultry.” 

Poultry

Zack said nearly 1,200 flocks have been affected by the disease in 48 states. Domestic poultry affected numbers 99 million and, to date, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has committed more than $901 million for indemnity for depopulated birds and eggs. 

In addition, more than $239 million has been set aside for depopulation disposal, environment elimination activities, current associated personnel, contractors, state agreements and field costs, including costs associated for the new highly pathogenic avian influenza in livestock, Zack said. More money is being channeled into the dairy cattle sector because of HPAI. 

“I think the key thing is that the states, the poultry producers, the allied industries, everyone has been working very hard and diligently,” he said. “(It’s) a long campaign for avian influenza here in the United States, given the world situation.” 

Dairy

On the dairy side, Jonker said it was a total surprise to NMPF to find HPAI H1N1 in dairy cows.  

“It wasn’t on our radar until March 25 when we started having herds with mystery illnesses in the Texas panhandle and New Mexico in February/March of this year,” he said. “(It) wasn’t a common disease.” 

The National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, has confirmed that about 145 dairy farms have been affected, Jonker said. 

“(For) those individual farms, it’s a very large impact over a several week period,” he said. 

The loss of milk production from infected cows is economically tough because the milk is not sold, he said. Additionally, the costs of treating those cows subtracts from the bottom line. 

“You’re treating these symptoms because we don’t have an antiviral to be able to attack this virus to date, and so it’s fluid therapy,” Jonker said. 

Producers had to deal with fever, and if 10% to 15% of the herd was affected by the disease, their facilities weren’t set up to segregate that many animals, he said, plus the commitment by workers and families to stay on top of it took time and effort. 

There’s not yet a lot of detail yet on economic impact on the dairy industry, but Jonker said early analysis is showing that it may be $50 to $100 per cow on average across all cows in the herd.  

“That’s preliminary, but for those individual farms, it is a very big economic impact and resource impact when they have the disease,” he said. 

Vaccines

Vaccines were part of the discussion, and it is a broad and important topic, according to Zack. USDA’s Agricultural Research Service has been working on new vaccine technologies “vigorously and ongoing.” 

Vaccination is complex because of the different groups of animals, Zack said. In poultry, for example, there are different sectors, including turkeys, chicken layers, chicken broilers and backyard poultry, and they are all significant commodities.  

 How to effectively vaccinate is among the questions being asked, both at the hatchery  and then for secondary or booster vaccines when needed. 

Zack said any vaccine requirements, whether for dairy cattle or poultry, should not be a unilateral decision by APHIS.  “There are consequences across the board,” he said. 

At Boehringer Ingleheim, Ensley said it’s important to utilize the knowledge available to develop something “that’s highly efficacious and safe for the cattle industry.” 

Ensley said there are questions about how to enforce biosecurity measures. 

“I know that we all understand that as producers, you want to protect your herd or your flock,” he said. “It’s your investment. These producers care very much for their animals. They don’t want to see them get sick.” 

Bickett-Weddle said scientists are still learning how this virus behaves and how it can survive in new locations, including within the cattle industry.  

“We know a lot about other diseases and how they’re spread, and trying to get that information out to producers is happening at multiple levels,” she said. “It’s hard when you’re used to doing this and keeping your herd healthy. Then a curveball comes in, like H5N1, and nobody’s read the books, and we don’t know how it behaves.” 

Efforts to secure the milk supply are important to NMPF, and it has helped enhance biosecurity in the dairy industry. 

“The American Association of Bovine Practitioners are actually taking the great work that’s been done and learning from these farms and our researchers what we know about this virus today versus what we knew back in April” Bickett-Weddle said. “We’re updating some biosecurity guidance.” 

The advice must be practical, she said. Producers need to have the right information and be able to do what works for their operations. 

“We’re trying to get the right research in the right hands of the folks,” she said. “We’re learning a lot about on a farm how it spread, but we’re still trying to uncover all the ways it might be coming into a farm.” 

Kylene Scott can be reached at 620-227-1804 or [email protected].