What has the dairy science community learned since the March 2024 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 outbreak in US dairy herds? That’s the question host Matt Lucy, PhD, is posing to two special guests on the pod: Nicole Martin, PhD, assistant research professor in dairy foods microbiology and associate director of the Milk Quality Improvement Program in the Department of Food Science at Cornell University, and Zelmar Rodriguez, DVM, PhD, assistant professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Michigan State University. The two experts are authors in the newly released hot topic special issue of JDS Communications dedicated to the H5N1 strain of avian influenza in dairy. Zelmar takes listeners through the epidemiology and clinical signs of the disease, recovery time for animals, and where we’re at with vaccine development and management now and into the future. Nicole walks us through her work on how HPAI H5N1 is impacting dairy foods, from what we know about viral loads in raw milk to the details on how fluid milk and dairy products are regulated and made safe through the 100-year-old Pasteurized Milk Ordinance. Ultimately, she explains, pasteurization is effective at eliminating H5N1 and reducing risk for consumers. Finally, the trio discusses where we are now in this outbreak and the remaining science still to be done—emphasizing the importance of connection, communication, and the strength of the dairy science community in getting us to this point.

Do you have unanswered H5N1 questions? Join us for a free one-hour Q&A with the authors of the JDS Communications special issue on October 16!

Connect with the Guests

Learn more about Nicole Martin, and connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter/X.

Learn more about Zelmar Rodriguez, and connect with him on LinkedIn and Twitter/X.

Review the H5N1 updates from the US Department of Agriculture, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and US Food and Drug Administration.  

Save the date for the 2025 ADSA Annual Meeting (June 22–25) in Louisville, Kentucky, and submit your abstracts before February 12!

Hot topic: Avian influenza subtype H5N1 in US dairy—A preliminary dairy foods perspective, JDS Communications (2024)

Hot topic: Epidemiological and clinical aspects of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 in dairy cattle, JDS Communications (2024)