USDA Weakened Order Designed To Prevent Spread Of Bird Flu After Pushback From State, Industry Officials, Records Show

Reuters (10/23, Douglas, Polansek) reports, “The U.S. Department of Agriculture weakened an emergency order last spring designed to prevent the spread of bird flu among the nation’s dairy cattle after pushback from state and industry officials, according to state and federal records seen by Reuters.” The communications “show how the early federal response to the U.S. bird flu outbreak was shaped in part by industry interests reluctant to cooperate with burdensome regulation, and potentially contributed to transmission of the disease across state lines.” The USDA’s order “requires milk-producing dairy cattle moving across state lines to secure a negative bird flu test no more than seven days prior to travel.” The order “also allows non-producing cattle headed to slaughter to cross state lines without a veterinarian’s clean bill of health.”