When a dairy herd in Texas was struck with a mysterious illness in March, and that illness was later determined to be H5N1, the dairy industry was caught completely off guard, according to experts who spoke during a webinar on July 11.
“On a scale of one to 100, I would say we were at 100: total surprise at finding this in dairy cows. It wasn't on our radar until March 25,” said Jamie Jonker, Ph.D., chief science officer for the National Milk Producers Federation. “When we started having herds with mystery illnesses in the Texas Panhandle and New Mexico in February, March of this year, we were ruling everything else out. It wasn’t a common disease, it wasn't a less common disease, it wasn't an uncommon disease. It was none of the things we would expect.”
