The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced the second round of states coming on board as part of its National Milk Testing Strategy (NMTS) that was launched Dec. 6.

The burden and challenges of cow health monitoring is growing as qualified personnel becomes scarce, labor costs rise, and herd sizes increase. Minimizing disruption of cow routines is also important to support improved performance.

One possible use of wearable sensor devices, such as collars, ear tags or leg bands, is to leverage the prepartum information generated by these devices for predictive assessments of future health and performance and for targeted management.

Three new states have detected highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in a dairy cattle. Last week, state departments in Iowa, Minnesota and Wyoming reported cases of the disease, bringing the total of affected states to 12 and number of cases nationwide to just over 90.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed a third human case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5) virus infection. The USDA is adding an additional $824 million in emergency funding to continue to provide critical rapid response activities and is launching a pilot program to give dairy producers more testing options prior to interstate movement of dairy cattle.

In response to the threat posed by highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1, the USDA has announced proactive measures aimed at safeguarding the nation's livestock industry. The actions of mandated testing and reporting are designed to curb the spread of the disease.