“Wisconsin’s dairy industry supports thousands of good paying jobs, drives our rural economies, and provides nutritious products around the world, and it is critical to our state that we get the response to this virus right,”
U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) called on the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to take immediate action to contain the ongoing avian flu outbreak in dairy cattle. On Tuesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that the virus has been found in pasteurized milk. In a letter to USDA Secretary Vilsack, Senator Baldwin called on USDA to quickly deploy additional resources to contain the spread of disease, including public education sessions, working with farmers to improve biosecurity, and providing ongoing disease exposure trends and education materials to protect Wisconsin dairy farmers, producers, and consumers.
“Wisconsin’s dairy industry supports thousands of good paying jobs, drives our rural economies, and provides nutritious products around the world, and it is critical to our state that we get the response to this virus right,” said Senator Baldwin. “The federal government has to step up to help our dairy farmers and producers weather and combat this outbreak, stop the spread of this virus, and ensure consumers know what is being done to keep them safe.”
Currently, there are no known cases in Wisconsin. Cases have been identified in Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota, and Texas. In Wisconsin, individuals can report suspected impacted herds here. While USDA announced actions yesterday to mitigate the spread of the virus, Senator Baldwin is calling for additional measures to ensure a coordinated and robust response to the ongoing outbreak of avian flu in dairy cattle.
