Chad Gregory, CEO of United Egg Producers, talks HPAI’s transfer into dairy cattle
26 April 2024
3 minute learn
Chad Gregory, president and CEO of United Egg Producers, spoke with The Poultry Website’s Melanie Epp on the Worldwide Egg Fee Enterprise Convention in Edinburgh, Scotland. Gregory offered an replace on latest detections of Extremely Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in dairy herds throughout the nation.
“Sadly, the latest HPAI in dairy within the US is a really evolving and severe state of affairs,” Gregory mentioned.
Dairy trade leaders are questioning in the event that they’ve been coping with HPAI for a 2–3 years now, he added.
“Up till a pair months in the past, that they had had what they had been calling ‘a mysterious virus’, which was inflicting the dairy herd to have 10 to 25%, much less milk manufacturing,” Gregory mentioned.
Upon additional testing earlier this 12 months, the dairy trade recognized high-path avian influenza in a dairy herd in Texas. Gregory mentioned trade specialists consider it might have been unfold throughout the nation as calves and heifers had been furthered out to dairy farms outdoors of the state.
“There was a heifer farm in Texas that was elevating heifers after which delivery the heifers throughout the US to be grown out on dairy farms,” Gregory mentioned.
“As of now, there’s about 8 to 10 completely different states which have dairy herds which have examined constructive for this HPAI,” Gregory added. “I believe the dairy trade remains to be making an attempt to determine how unhealthy that is, how widespread that is, what it means, and what they should do.”
What’s fascinating is that the virus is the very same model that’s been impacting egg, broiler and turkey farms throughout the US for the final couple of years.
“Up till simply three or 4 weeks in the past, we assumed that we had been getting HPAI from wild birds or from our personal lack of biosecurity,” Gregory mentioned. “We could have the final two or three years have been selecting it up from a few of these dairy farms and vice versa.”
The US authorities and the US Division of Agriculture have taken the outbreaks very severely. Nonetheless, outbreaks proceed to floor throughout the nation, each on poultry and dairy farms.
“Within the final two weeks, we have now had 4 industrial egg farms take a look at constructive – one in Texas, three in Michigan,” Gregory mentioned on the time of the convention. “All 4 farms are actually near constructive dairy farms, and it has been confirmed by way of epidemiology that it’s an actual match in genome sequencing from the dairy farm to the egg farms in these states.”
At one of many Michigan websites, it’s believed that the virus was launched to the farms by a husband and spouse. One was engaged on a dairy farm and the opposite was engaged on an egg farm.
HPAI’s unfold into dairy cattle has put livestock producers throughout the nation on excessive alert.
“Most of us in animal agriculture within the US suspect that it is only a matter of time earlier than the pig trade realizes that they’ve one thing and take a look at constructive for this, in addition to beef cattle,” Gregory mentioned.
Beforehand, the completely different livestock sectors have operated individually. HPAI has modified that. Gregory mentioned the completely different sectors come collectively in a weekly name to share what they’ve discovered. The decision contains representatives from Dairy Administration Included, Nationwide Milk Producers Federation, and the Nationwide Cattlemen’s Beef Affiliation. The group just lately welcomed representatives from Nationwide Pork Producers Council and Nationwide Pork Board to the weekly name.
“It might be the primary time actually that pigs, beef, dairy and eggs are working so carefully collectively to attempt to curb this virus, shut down this virus, and have the ability to transfer on,” Gregory concluded. “It is an evolving state of affairs. It is extremely severe, and our White Home is coordinating a number of the efforts now.”
The Worldwide Egg Fee Enterprise Convention befell in Edinburgh, Scotland on April 14-16.
