By Nick Loomis
Last summer, Lee Maassen required his workers to wear gloves and goggles while milking about 2,000 cows on his dairy farm in northwest Iowa.
Sioux County, where Maassen’s farm is located, became the epicenter of the bird flu outbreak in Iowa last summer.
His herd was not among those infected in Iowa, thanks, he said, to those precautions he took and to U.S. Department of Agriculture-mandated testing efforts. In addition to goggles and gloves, the agency recommended masks and face shields but did not require them.
“I’m happy, satisfied, so far with what they’ve done through the last year and where they’re at now, that they’re not overdoing surveillance and overdoing regulation,” Maassen said. “But I think they’re doing what’s needed.”
Maassen said he places so much faith in the testing that he no longer requires workers to wear goggles as long as there is no trace of bird flu in the local milk bulk-storage silos. He said he is confident that the testing will continue, despite the cuts in funding and jobs at federal agencies that oversee those initiatives.
The spread of bird flu has devastated flocks and sent egg prices skyrocketing. Most of the 69 reported cases of bird flu in humans have been traced through dairy cows, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The nightmare scenario is, of course, that the H5N1 virus mutates in a way that makes transmission to and among humans more common; that has not happened so far.
Experts say that precautions can help workers keep themselves safe. But they also are worried about how broad spending reductions in the federal government could impair robust surveillance of bird flu’s spread.
Job cuts, rehirings add to uncertainty around disease management
Dr. James Lawler, the director of the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Global Center for Health Security, said he is concerned that defenses will be weakened because of the Department of Government Efficiency’s interventions.
“It is a complicated, joint effort between the USDA, CDC and other entities within the federal government to try and characterize and respond to these types of outbreaks,” said the infectious disease specialist. “I certainly think that dramatic cuts in their staffing and budget are going to have a negative impact in our ability to do that.”
The USDA announced Feb. 14 that it had cut 78 jobs and was reviewing over 1,000 more for potential termination. But just days later, the agency said it was “working to swiftly rectify the situation and rescind those letters,” especially those addressed to employees who were working on bird flu mitigation efforts, according to a statement shared with NPR.
More than 150 million chickens, turkeys and ducks have died because of the virus, most of them culled to prevent spread.
In Iowa, there has been one human case of bird flu linked to poultry. Missouri also has one reported human case with an unknown source of exposure. Kansas and Nebraska have not reported any human cases yet.
Missouri and Nebraska have not reported any cases of bird flu in dairy cows, either, but that does not mean there have been no infections, according to Lawler. He said the USDA testing is lagging behind in some places because the participation process differs from state to state.
The CDC reported one death in the U.S. from bird flu in Louisiana; there hasn’t been any documented person-to-person transmission of the disease as of Feb. 20.
Iowa producers discuss best practices
Phillip Jardon is Iowa State University’s dairy extension veterinarian. He kicked off the first meeting of ISU’s Dairy Days in Elma, Iowa, on Feb. 18. The annual outreach program gathers dairy producers throughout the state to discuss best economic, environmental and health practices.
“Twelve months ago, we did the same program and we didn’t even know about this disease yet,” Jardon told The Midwest Newsroom after the meeting. “Certainly, there’s concern and a lot of questions about how it spreads and how they can prevent it, which is a very good question and not always easy to answer.”
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