[Source: Reuters]
Some dairy farmers are resisting Michigan’s national efforts to prevent bird flu, fearing their incomes will be hurt by higher prices and hurt rural United States.
Government restrictions, accompanied by tracking the comings and goings of farms, are bringing back unwanted memories of COVID-19 in Martin and other small towns in central Michigan.
The state has two of four known human cases, all dairy workers, since the government showed the world’s first case in U. S. farm animals in late March. The state has tested more people than any of the 12 states that showed cases in cows, according to a Reuters poll of state fitness departments. Testing policies vary across the state.
Public fitness experts are concerned that the disease could become a pandemic just a few years after COVID-19.
As those considerations grow, other states are watching the acceptance, success or failure of Michigan’s proactive reaction in search of a roadmap that goes beyond federal closure recommendations.
More than a dozen interviews with Michigan producers, state fitness officials, researchers and industry groups, along with initial data, show a limited share of dairy products in efforts aimed at containing and reading the virus.
In some cases, local fitness government calls go unanswered, the budget for dairy farm studies goes unclaimed, and they continue to milk cows without additional protective equipment.
Brian DeMann, a dairy farmer from Martin, Michigan, said the outbreak and the state’s reaction are reminiscent of COVID-19.
The 37-year-old believes Michigan’s regulations related to bird flu would be more accepted if they were recommendations than necessities for farmers.
“No one knows if the things we’re told to do are going to prevent this,” said DeMann, who echoed a dubious view shared by other farmers. “Just like in 2020, other people didn’t like being told what to do. »
This spring, many dairy owners in the U. S. They ignored federal recommendations to provide more protective devices for their employees, according to farmers and staff. DeMann said he hasn’t invested in new protective devices, such as masks, for his staff because it’s unclear exactly how the virus spreads.