Fewer Cows at Fairs Due to H5N1 Testing

DES MOINES, IOWA (DTN) -- Iowa has only had 13 herds affected by the H5N1 strain of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus, but state officials are doing all they can to keep any further spread due to exhibitions.

Some exhibitors at the Iowa State Fair changed from what they would normally take to the dairy show to protect their herds at home from any risk of influenza.

Brandon Franck from DeWitt, Iowa, is the assistant herdsman of LeeAnn's Swiss where they milk about 80 Brown Swiss cows and have exhibited at the Iowa State Fair for many years. He said they decided to leave their fresh cows home from the fair this year. "We opted to not bring any lactating cows this year to the fair because of the testing requirements. We brought four heifers this year for the show," he said.

TESTING REQUIREMENTS TO PREVENT SPREAD

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship started a statewide order on July 1 to require all lactating dairy cows to test negative for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) within seven days of moving to the exhibition.

"We want to strike a balance between allowing our 4-H, FFA, and dairy exhibitors the opportunity to show their animals, while also requiring additional testing to protect our livestock and minimize the potential spread of the virus," said Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig.

As of Aug. 15, all the H5N1 cases in Iowa have been in northwest Iowa. While Franck said it hasn't been an issue in eastern Iowa, where their farm is, they also don't want to see problems.

"In eastern Iowa, it's been a non-issue. We haven't seen any cases, so none of the prevention stuff really applies to us in regard to spread within the herd. We are practicing biosecurity just like we always have," he said.

The heifers they did bring for the show will return to farms where no lactating cows are present, and they hope this will provide another amount of protection from the virus.

"There are people who would have normally brought cows to the fair that didn't this year, and overall, it seems the numbers at the fair are down from a normal year when we don't have any herd health concerns," said Franck. Other producers who did have lactating cows at the fair declined to comment about the process they needed to do to show their animals.

VACCINATION MAY BECOME AVAILABLE

Recent findings through research are leading animal health companies to work on vaccinations for the prevention of viruses such as the H5N1 virus in dairy cattle. Medgene, a company based in Brookings, South Dakota, is awaiting USDA approval to produce a prescription platform H5N1 vaccine for the dairy industry with hopes of preventing the reduction of milk production. Medgene has provided other vaccines for the swine, cattle, rabbit and deer industries. The company has also been working on a HPAI vaccine for the poultry industry.

As of Aug. 15, the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service reported 192 cases of HPAI in dairy cows in 13 states since the outbreak began. Since Feb. 2022, over 100 million birds have been affected in 1,172 flocks in 48 states.

Jennifer Carrico can be reached at jennifer.carrico@dtn.com

Follow her on social platform X @JennCattleGal.

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