
Six states have been added to the National Milk Testing Strategy (NMTS), the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced on January 17.
This brings the total number of states testing under NMTS guidelines to 36 since the first round of states joined in early December 2024.
With the enrollment of six additional states, the NMTS will account for bulk milk tank samples from two-thirds of the nation’s dairy herds, or nearly three-quarters of the nation’s milk production. This data will further enhance understanding of H5N1 presence among dairy herds for USDA and its federal partners.
The latest states enrolling in the strategy are Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina and West Virginia. This brings USDA closer to conducting mandatory, nationwide bulk milk surveillance in all 48 contiguous states.
The first round of states included California, Colorado, Michigan, Mississippi, Oregon and Pennsylvania, which started testing in early December. The second round of states brought into the testing strategy in mid-December were Indiana, Maryland, Montana, New York, Ohio, Vermont and Washington. The third tranche of states, announced in early January, were Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Iowa, Georgia, Kansas, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia.
The National Milk Testing Strategy involves five stages that describe the state’s testing activity and the presence of H5N1 in that state. Of the 28 states now enrolled, 11 states are considered to be in Stage 2, meaning they have state-level bulk tank sampling programs already underway. California is considered to be in Stage 3, meaning that it is an affected state that has rapid response measures in place to address detections. Two states are in Stage 1, meaning that silo testing is underway or is set to begin imminently. As new states join and initiate testing, USDA will update their status on its National Milk Testing Strategy website and map.