Last summer, Lee Maassen required his workers to wear gloves and goggles while milking about 2,000 cows on his dairy farm in northwest Iowa.
Sioux County, where Maassen’s farm is located, became the epicenter of the bird flu outbreak in Iowa last summer.
His herd was not among those infected in Iowa, thanks, he said, to those precautions he took and to U.S. Department of Agriculture-mandated testing efforts. In addition to goggles and gloves, the agency recommended masks and face shields but did not require them.
“I’m happy, satisfied, so far with what they’ve done through the last year and where they’re at now, that they’re not overdoing surveillance and overdoing regulation,” Maassen said. “But I think they’re doing what’s needed.”
Maassen said he places so much faith in the testing that he no longer requires workers to wear goggles as long as there is no trace of bird flu in the local milk bulk-storage silos. He said he is confident that the testing will continue, despite the cuts in funding and jobs at federal agencies that oversee those initiatives.
The spread of bird flu has devastated flocks and sent egg prices skyrocketing. Most of the 69 reported cases of bird flu in humans have been traced through dairy cows, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The nightmare scenario is, of course, that the H5N1 virus mutates in a way that makes transmission to and among humans more common; that has not happened so far.
Experts say that precautions can help workers keep themselves safe. But they also are worried about how broad spending reductions in the federal government could impair robust surveillance of bird flu’s spread.
Job cuts, rehirings add to uncertainty around disease management
Dr. James Lawler, a director of the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Global Center for Health Security, said he is concerned that defenses will be weakened because of the Department of Government Efficiency’s interventions.
“It is a complicated, joint effort between the USDA, CDC and other entities within the federal government to try and characterize and respond to these types of outbreaks,” said the infectious disease specialist. “I certainly think that dramatic cuts in their staffing and budget are going to have a negative impact in our ability to do that.”
The USDA announced Feb. 14 that it had cut 78 jobs and was reviewing over 1,000 more for potential termination. But just days later, the agency said it was “working to swiftly rectify the situation and rescind those letters,” especially those addressed to employees who were working on bird flu mitigation efforts, according to a statement shared with NPR.
More than 150 million chickens, turkeys and ducks have died because of the virus, most of them culled to prevent spread.
In Iowa, there has been one human case of bird flu linked to poultry. Missouri also has one reported human case with an unknown source of exposure. Kansas and Nebraska have not reported any human cases yet.
Missouri and Nebraska have not reported any cases of bird flu in dairy cows, either, but that does not mean there have been no infections, according to Lawler. He said the USDA testing is lagging behind in some places because the participation process differs from state to state.
The CDC reported one death in the U.S. from bird flu in Louisiana; there hasn’t been any documented person-to-person transmission of the disease as of Feb. 20.
Iowa producers discuss best practices
Phillip Jardon is Iowa State University’s dairy extension veterinarian. He kicked off the first meeting of ISU’s Dairy Days in Elma, Iowa, on Feb. 18. The annual outreach program gathers dairy producers throughout the state to discuss best economic, environmental and health practices.
“Twelve months ago, we did the same program and we didn’t even know about this disease yet,” Jardon told The Midwest Newsroom after the meeting. “Certainly, there’s concern and a lot of questions about how it spreads and how they can prevent it, which is a very good question and not always easy to answer.”
About 15 dairy farmers came to the Elma meeting on a frigid Tuesday when temperatures reached 10 below. A question-and-answer session followed the presentation on bird flu in dairy cows, which included the fact that the virus concentrates and sheds in the milk.
General CDC protection guidelines for farmworkers include avoiding sick animals, wearing personal protective equipment if they do need to be near a sick or dead animal and avoiding surfaces contaminated with saliva or feces.
One farmer asked if bird flu could be transmitted to consumers. Jardon replied that pasteurized milk is very safe.
“We set the pasteurization temperature for bacteria that are hard to kill,” he said. “This virus is really pretty easy to kill.”
He said raw milk, however, is a different story and advised against consuming it.
Rachel Cramer contributed to this article.
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REFERENCES:
Iowa dairy farmers in a bird flu hotspot take precautions to prevent viral spread (Iowa Public Radio | June 21, 2024)
The USDA fired staffers working on bird flu. Now it’s trying to reverse course (NPR | Feb. 19, 2025)
Secretary Rollins takes bold action to stop wasteful spending and optimize USDA to better serve American agriculture (USDA | Feb. 14, 2025)
Federal order requiring testing for and reporting of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in livestock (USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service | April 24, 2024)
Federal order requiring additional testing for and reporting of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in livestock and milk (USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service | Dec. 6, 2024)
HPAI confirmed cases in livestock monitor (USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service | Accessed Feb. 20, 2025)
H5 bird flu: current situation (CDC | Accessed Feb. 20, 2025)
METHODOLOGY:
To tell this story, reporter Nick Loomis spoke to Iowa dairy farmer Lee Maassen about his concerns related to bird flu and the precautions he has taken on his farm to stop its spread. He also interviewed experts, including Iowa State University dairy extension veterinarian Phillip Jardon, and a director of the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Global Center for Health Security, Dr. James Lawler.
Loomis then analyzed the data from the USDA and CDC tracking cases of bird flu in humans and dairy herds to make sure the most comprehensive and up-to-date information was included in the story.
TYPE OF ARTICLE:
Explainer — Provides context or background, definition and detail on a specific topic.
