The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has provided an update on its efforts to monitor milk sold in grocery stores across Canada for signs of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Canada’s dairy herds.
The CFIA says as of June 18, 2024, it has tested 600 retail milk samples from across the country, all of which have tested negative for HPAI fragments.
“The negative result means that no HPAI fragments are present in the milk, which confirms current reports that the virus has not been detected in Canadian dairy cows,” the agency said, reiterating what it said in its previous report. Updated in mid-May.
Milk in Canada must be pasteurized before it is sold, a process that kills viruses such as highly pathogenic avian influenza, but the PCR tests used by the CFIA and U.S. authorities can detect viral fragments and remnants.
HPAI has been confirmed in dairy herds in 12 states in the United States: 25 in Michigan, 22 in Idaho, 18 in Texas, 10 in Colorado, eight in New Mexico, five in South Dakota, four in Kansas, three each in Minnesota and Iowa, and one each in North Carolina, Ohio, and Wyoming.
Related: What is HPAI in dairy cattle?
