BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry encourages farmers and dairy producers to implement "biosecurity measures" after reports of cattle disease in the United States.

According to a release from the LDAF, the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) virus, a contagious multi-organ disease that leads to death in animals, has been detected in cattle in Texas, Ohio, New Mexico, Kansas, Michigan and Idaho. No cases have been identified in Louisiana.

The LDAF stated a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection (CVI) being used to ship dairy cattle from states that have had an HPAI virus detection in the past 30 days is invalid after seven days. All CVIs for cattle from states that have had HPAI detections should also have a statement from the verified veterinarian. The statement should read as follows:

“All animals identified on this Certificate of Veterinary Inspection (CVI) have been inspected and do not originate from a premise with a confirmed detection of HPAI or that is currently under investigation as suspect premises.”  

Those interested in transporting cattle from Louisiana to other states should contact the destination state before transportation to be notified of the import requirements, LDAF said.

“Hopefully Louisiana will not see a confirmed case of HPAI, but we will continue to closely monitor the situation. In order to protect the health of Louisiana livestock and minimize the impact HPAI could potentially have on our dairy and poultry producers, we all need to be diligent in practicing enhanced biosecurity,” said LDAF Commissioner Mike Strain. “This is the easiest to implement and most effective measure to take against the potential spread of HPAI into Louisiana.”  

If farmers and dairy producers notice any of the following symptoms, contact the herd veterinarian and the LDAF immediately:

• sudden drop in milk production
• changes in milk color/consistency
• decreased feed intake
• difficulty breathing
• diarrhea

The LDAF suggests quarantining all new animals for 30 days before adding them to a herd.

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