Officials in two of the three states probing their first cases of bird flu in dairy cattle this month said their hands are tied after the Food and Drug Administration pleaded with states to ramp up testing and restrictions on potentially infectious raw milk being sold to consumers within their borders.
Wyoming, Iowa and Minnesota announced their first detections of the virus in recent days, becoming the first new states to be added to the USDA’s list of cases in weeks.
“There are no plans to conduct surveillance of raw milk for H5N1 and there are no plans for restrictions on raw milk sales due to the outbreak,” Derek Grant, a spokesperson for the Wyoming Department of Agriculture, said to CBS News in a statement.
Wyoming and Iowa both have laws that significantly limit state oversight of products like raw milk to “informed end consumers” in the state.
“Because of this, foods sold under the Wyoming Food Freedom Act are not licensed or regulated by the WDA so there is no structure in place to conduct surveillance or place restrictions on sales,” Grant said.