The Biden administration he said on Friday that it will compensate dairy farmers for cooperating in its efforts to contain the spread of the bird flu virus, part of a series of sweeping measures aimed at containing an outbreak.
The payment system amounted to one of the most aggressive actions yet taken by agriculture officials who have struggled to keep up with the virus’ spread among dairy cows. Farm owners are reluctant to allow state and federal officials access to cows and workers exposed to or infected with the virus and fear the financial consequences of infected herds and contaminated milk.
Under the so-called compensation program, farms will receive up to $28,000 to protect workers and cover costs incurred in treating and testing sick cows. Producers may also receive payments for milk loss on farms with confirmed cases of bird flu.
Farmers who agree to participate in government-led studies will also be compensated for their time.
“We are now moving into a phase of equipping producers to reduce the risk” of a wider spread, Tom Vilsack, the secretary of agriculture, said at a press briefing on Friday, acknowledging the difficulties of reaching farmers.
The program was part of a broader federal push announced Friday to increase spending to fight bird flu. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to scale up testing capacity — a blind spot at the start of the coronavirus pandemic — and its evaluation of bird flu vaccines if needed.
Xavier Becerra, the health and human services secretary, added that the CDC will devote $93 million to tracking the virus, including $34 million to expand testing and $29 million to track people exposed to the virus and their contacts.
The agency plans to invest $14 million to expand genetic sequencing and analysis of virus samples isolated from infected animals and humans.
“We recognize the urgency of this situation,” Mr. Becerra said.
However, officials continued to stress that the risk to humans from the bird flu virus remains low. Only one person has been confirmed to be infected with the virus, known as H5N1, although the number would likely be higher if more dairy workers were tested.
More than 250 people exposed to the virus have been monitored, and 33 who developed flu symptoms have been tested, according to a Department of Health and Human Services spokesman.
The extent of the outbreak of bird flu in cattle remains unclear, but the number of sick cows has gradually increased. More than 40 herds have been infected in nine states, according to the Department of Agriculture update this week, including six new herds, four of which were in Michigan.
Mr Vilsack suggested on Friday that these new positive tests were not recent, adding that it was “positive” that no new states had reported cases. But he said farms with infected herds were “suffering and we want to make sure we are there to provide help”.
Payments to farmers will be divided into five categories.
Dairy producers will be reimbursed up to $10,000 for veterinary expenses, including treating infected cows and collecting samples for testing, which can come with significant fees.
Up to $1,500 could go to farms to protect milk haulers, veterinarians and other workers who may be exposed to infected cows or contaminated milk.
Farms with infected herds could receive up to $2,000 each month if they supply workers with protective equipment and participate in a federal study of the farms and their employees.
This week, the CDC asked states to provide goggles, face shields and gloves to farms and educate farm workers about the importance of protecting themselves from the virus. But in states that have offered protective gear since the start of the outbreak, few farms have accepted it.
The federal government will also pay dairy producers up to $2,000 each month to safely dispose of milk from infected cows. Milk contaminated with the virus poses a risk to other animals: About a dozen cats fed raw milk from infected cows he died.
“This is a good start,” said Dr. Megan Davis, a veterinary epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “It should have happened a month ago.”
Dr Davies said the value of compensation payments would depend on the size of a farm and the technology it uses. Working out a compensation program for tens of thousands of dairy farmers, he said, was more complicated than a program for poultry, which is dominated by big food companies that have benefited from government payments.
“They have their own farms, they have their own cows, they make their own decisions,” Dr Davis said of dairy farmers. “There’s a lot more heterogeneity.”
Most infected cattle are mildly ill – with loss of appetite and a low-grade fever – but may produce significantly less milk. Mr. Vilsack said Friday that the Department of Agriculture was trying to allocate funds from an existing federal emergency aid program to compensate farms for reduced milk production.
The ministry is also encouraging states to limit herd movements within their borders as another way to reduce the spread of the virus. It has already mandated testing of dairy cattle traveling interstate that report positive cases.
Officials acknowledged they could not force farmers to test workers or cows more broadly, but said they hoped to encourage cooperation.
“We can’t necessarily mandate that a sample be provided, but obviously we’re willing to accept samples that are voluntarily provided,” Mr. Vilsack said.
Federal officials meet regularly with advocacy organizations and other groups representing farmers “because they are a trusted link between us in public health, us in agriculture and the workers themselves,” said Dr. Nirav Shah, the CDC’s principal deputy director. the update.