The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets today announced that New York has achieved Unaffected status as part of the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Milk Testing Strategy (NMTS) designed to detect highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in dairy herds. This rigorous standard confirms that New York State has conducted ongoing testing and surveillance activities and that those demonstrate absence of the disease in dairy cattle in the state. Reaching this critical benchmark comes in large part thanks to the hard work of New York’s dairy and poultry farmers who have worked to implement and reinforce strong proactive biosecurity measures on farms across the state. To date, there have been no detections of HPAI in dairy cattle in New York State.
According to USDA and the FDA, pasteurized milk and pasteurized dairy products remain safe to consume as pasteurization kills harmful microbes and pathogens, including HPAI, in milk and there is also no concern regarding the consumption of properly cooked meat products. Find out more about HPAI and milk safety.
State Agriculture Commissioner A. Ball said, “Our dairy farmers, poultry farmers, and inspectors across the state have been working tirelessly to ensure that dairy cattle in New York remain free of HPAI. Reaching Unaffected status affirms that their hard work is paying off, and I thank all the farmers who have been instrumental in reaching this benchmark. We will continue to keep up our testing and surveillance so New Yorkers can be assured that their favorite local dairy products are safe and healthy to consume.”