Tennessee is slamming the brakes on dairy cattle, with a movement restriction now in place courtesy of the State Veterinarian, following the USDA's confirmation of a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak hitting cattle across multiple states. According to the Tennessee Department of Health, Texas, Kansas, Michigan, and New Mexico have already fallen victim to the disease with Idaho's results still hanging in the balance, as cattle producers are facing an agri-crisis that's spreading faster than a spilled milk puddle.
The H5N1 strain, previously seen gatecrashing through flocks of wild birds, has clawed its way into the dairy sector, but Tennessee remains untouched by the outbreak even so, the smell of caution is thick in the air, and cattle farmers are urged to isolate the sick, holster animal movements, and keep new moo-ers in quarantine to avoid turning their farms into flu fests. "If Tennessee dairy producers believe cattle within their herd are showing clinical signs of HPAI, they should report these signs immediately," the Tennessee Department of Health urged, the list of symptoms reads like a bad day for Bessie: low appetite, flu-like misery, and milky output that's barely a trickle.
The virus jumped species to people as well, with a Texan case the CDC says is mild and the patient's on the mend, so while our milk mustaches are safe, health officials are throwing red flags on the raw stuff, betting big on pasteurization's proven punch against germy invaders.
Dairy operations are dealing double time, as afflicted animals' milk is diverted, and destroyed—not a drop of the sickly stuff will lace your latte, they ensure us, while feds, state officials, and industry bigwigs are hustling together, keeping tabs on bovine sniffles, as part of a concerted clamp-down trying to keep both commerce and cows from keeling. The Tennessee Departments of Agriculture and Health, bonded by the One Health Committee, are tag-teaming "to help protect and improve the health of animals and people," tightening the lasso around this viral varmint.
