Minnesota statewide raw milk testing detects H5N1 in dairy herd

STEARNS COUNTY, Minn. (KTTC) – The spread of H5N1 continues impacting dairy cattle across the country.

At the start of the month, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture starting testing raw cow’s milk at more than 1,600 dairy farms statewide.

The Minnesota Board of Animal Health, now confirming the first detection of the virus in a dairy herd in Stearns County, just northwest of the Twin Cities.

The USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories detected the case on Friday.

Michael Crusan, a communications director for the Minnesota Board of Animal Health, said the board steps into quarantine a herd once H5N1 is detected.

A case manager is assigned to each case to walk the farm through every step.

Crusan said the farm is quarantined by making sure there aren’t any products leaving the property to reduce disease spread.

“They work with that case manager on a testing protocol where we go in and sample their milk weekly and look for three consecutive tests,” Crusan said. “And when we get three consecutive tests that are negative then we can go through the steps of releasing that quarantine.”

He said if the particles from the H5N1 virus made it into the healthy milk supply, then the board relies on the pasteurization process, which has been shown to be effective in eliminating the virus.

The results of testing this month are pleasantly surprising to the Minnesota Board of Animal Health according to Crusan.

To learn more about the testing of raw cow milk in Minnesota, please click here.

Find stories like this and more, in our apps.

Copyright 2025 KTTC. All rights reserved.