HOUSTON — The Texas Department of Agriculture announced Monday that it had identified a disease that had been recently working its way through the Panhandle.
The mysterious disease had puzzled the agriculture industry until Monday when Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said he got confirmation from United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack that it was a strain of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), which is commonly known as bird flu.
Three dairies in Texas and one in Kansas tested positive for the disease and TDA is monitoring the outbreak.
"This presents yet another hurdle for our agriculture sector in the Texas Panhandle," Miller said. "Protecting Texas producers and the safety of our food supply chain is my top priority. The Texas Department of Agriculture will use every resource available to maintain the high standards of quality and safety that define Texas agriculture."
The dairy industry pulls in about $50 billion across Texas, which ranks fourth in milk production nationwide.
Miller wanted the public to know their milk was safe despite the outbreak.
"There is no threat to the public and there will be no supply shortages," Miller said. "No contaminated milk is known to have entered the food chain; it has all been dumped. In the rare event that some affected milk enters the food chain, the pasteurization process will kill the virus."
Symptoms
Cattle that have been affected by HPAI present with flu-like symptoms. They could lose up to 40% of their milk production for a week or longer until symptoms subside.
During that time, the cattle experience a sharp reduction in milk production, fever and thick and discolored milk.
It's not expected to lead to depopulation of impacted cattle.
"Unlike affected poultry, I foresee there will be no need to depopulate dairy herds," Miller said. "Cattle are expected to fully recover. The Texas Department of Agriculture is committed to providing unwavering support to our dairy industry."
Farmers have been asked to clean and disinfect all livestock watering devices and to isolate drinking water where it might be contaminated.