New Hampshire officials are closely watching reports of an avian flu infecting dairy cows in eight other states.
But they also are reassuring the New Hampshire public that no animals here have gotten sick — and that milk produced in the Granite State is safe to drink.
Josh Marshall, director of the division of agricultural development at the state Department of Agriculture, said his agency is in close contact with the state health department and with federal agencies about what’s called HPAI — highly pathogenic avian influenza. “Thankfully, this remains an animal health issue … but we’re monitoring the developments closely,” Marshall said.
According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, New Hampshire has 129 farms that have milk cows, with just over 10,000 cows in all. No cows have been diagnosed with HPAI anywhere in New Hampshire — or for that matter, in New England, Marshall said.
Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that a “nationally representative” sampling of commercial milk had turned up HPAI “viral fragments” in about one of five retail samples.
The results do not change its assessment that the commercial milk supply is safe, the agency said. “At this time, there continues to be no concern that this circumstance poses a risk to consumer health, or that it affects the safety of the interstate commercial milk supply because products are pasteurized before entering the market,” the FDA says on its website.
Officials here are relying on such assurances. “There has been no active virus found in any of the commercial milk supply, and we’re very confident in the pasteurization process to inactivate any virus that might be found,” Marshall said.
That’s the point of pasteurization, he said. “The big thing that I want folks to know is that the existing protections for the commercial milk supply are going to work on this (virus),” he said.
Colleen Smith, administrator of the food protection section at the state Bureau of Public Health Protection, echoed that assessment.
“This is very new, and we’re learning a lot more every day,” Smith said. “But as far as the commercial milk supply that you go to your store for, there’s no known safety risk for milk at this time.”
The state health department’s dairy sanitation program oversees 79 dairy farms, 59 of which ship their milk to commercial processing plants, she said.
The Department of Health and Human Services is closely monitoring the HPAI outbreaks, Smith said. “It’s a disease that is in animals but that can be passed on to humans,” she said. “We’re fortunate with no detections in New Hampshire or even in New England, but certainly it’s a situation that we are watching and preparing for.”
It is legal to sell raw milk in New Hampshire, Smith said, and farmers are allowed to sell directly to consumers up to 20 gallons a day, including other products such as yogurt or ice cream. “The only caveat is that that only can be sold in New Hampshire,” she said. “At the federal level, any milk distributed in interstate commerce needs to be pasteurized.”
The Department of Health and Human Services “never has been an advocate for drinking raw milk,” Smith said, noting outbreaks of foodborne illness have been associated with consumption of raw milk.
So, particularly in the face of this new virus, Smith said, it makes sense to avoid consuming raw milk.
As of April 24, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed the HPAI virus at 33 dairy farms in eight states — Kansas, Idaho, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota and Texas.
And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported that a Texas resident who had exposure to dairy cattle had tested positive for the virus. The patient’s only symptom was eye redness and they were recovering after treatment with an antiviral drug used for influenza, officials said.
Federal agencies are taking steps to prevent the spread of the virus. As of Monday , any lactating dairy cows being shipped across state lines will have to be tested for the virus.
“HPAI is a threat to the poultry industry, animal health, trade and the economy,” the FDA said in a statement last week. “While HPAI causes less severe illness in cattle than in poultry, the disease remains of concern for all livestock and also for humans who come into contact with infected animals.”
Dairy cows here are not being tested for HPAI, but that would change if any animals started showing symptoms, which in other states included decreased lactation and low appetite, officials said.
Marshall, from the Department of Agriculture, has a message for dairy farmers: “If your animals have some symptoms, or are not looking good, you should be contacting your vet right away, and they’ll be the ones to offer the best guidance on how to move forward.”
So what does this new threat mean for the petting zoos and agricultural fairs that are so popular in New Hampshire?
Smith said she expects more guidance will come out from federal agencies.
But she said it’s always important to practice good hygiene after any contact with animals. “So if you do go to a petting zoo, we’re always recommending washing your hands,” she said.
“Animals might be cute, but they’re not necessarily clean,” Smith said.
