Some dairy farmers are resisting Michigan’s nation-leading efforts to stop the spread of bird flu for fear their incomes will suffer from added costs and hurt rural America.
The government’s restrictions, which include tracking who comes and goes from farms, are rekindling unwanted memories of COVID-19 in Martin and other small towns in central Michigan.
The state has two of the four known cases in humans, all dairy workers, since federal authorities confirmed the world’s first case in U.S. cattle in late March. The state has tested more people than any of the 12 states with confirmed cases in cows, according to a Reuters survey of state health departments. Testing policies vary by state.
Public health experts fear the disease has the potential to turn into another pandemic just a few years after COVID-19. As those worries mount, the acceptance and success or failure of Michigan’s proactive response is being watched by other states looking for a roadmap that goes beyond federal containment recommendations.
(SRN NEWS contributed to this story.)