W.Va. Department of Agriculture working to keep bird flu away from state’s cattle

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - The CDC is monitoring a multi-state outbreak of bird flu in dairy cows. This outbreak started in Texas and is the first time these bird flu viruses were found in cattle.

It has not hit West Virginia yet, but the Department of Agriculture is working to make sure it stays that way.

“We are working very hard with neighboring states and everybody else to make sure this stays contained,” said West Virginia Agriculture Commissioner Kent Leonhardt. He says this outbreak was partly cause by infected cows being moved state to state.

Now, the USDA has restricted interstate movement of lactating dairy cows.

“They can’t move to another state without having a health certificate from a licensed veterinarian within seven days,” Leonhardt said.

The Department of Agriculture tests any animal that even looks questionable.

“We obviously don’t want this to spread a lot, we don’t want our milk prices to go up with a shortage of milk like we saw when an outbreak first happened a couple of years ago and egg prices went through the roof,” Leonhardt said.

The bottom line is West Virginia’s cows are safe, and so is the milk.

“Milk coming from sick cows does not go into the milk supply, but if it were to happen accidentally, pasteurization does kill the virus,” Leonhardt said. “I want to assure the citizens of West Virginia, we’re watching this, we’re following it, we’re cooperating with the USDA and neighboring states across the nation. Right now, we do not have it in West Virginia, and your milk supply is safe.”

There has only been one case of bird flu infecting a human. That was in Texas, and it was a dairy farmer who worked in close contact with the infected cows every day. He has made a full recovery and only showed mild symptoms.

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