GENESEE COUNTY, NY — At Noblehurst Farms in Genesee County, it's business as usual, despite growing concerns about Avian Influenza, or H5N1, making its way to New York State.
"The closest state to us is in Ohio, it's in nine states currently, it has affected 34 total herds across the United States but it is not in New York State yet," said Jack Klapper, one of the owners of the Pavilion farm.
The virus is deadly to poultry. The USDA is now testing for H5N1 in ground beef and milk products.
READ MORE: USDA testing beef, including ground beef, for bird flu
But, the pasteurization process has been shown to kill the virus, which means avian influenza is found in raw milk.
Klapper says there is no need to fear the dairy products on our shelves. That's because farmers are working together with their veterinarians to keep their dairy cows safe.
"It's nothing to be worried about, it's not killing animals, cows are recovering from this virus quickly... we are able to get our animals back up and running," said Klapper.
Dr. Robert Lynch is the Dairy Herd Health and Management Specialist at Cornell and says there could be hardships if the outbreak spreads.
The USDA announced last week that all dairy cows transported across state lines must pass a test to ensure they do not spread the virus.
"All lactating cows if they are going to move interstate, from state to state, they have to have a negative influenza A test done first," said Dr. Lynch. "The USDA is doing additional follow-up work and they'll report in the next few days or weeks what their follow-up testing was."
But for now, farmers like Klapper are just doing their best to try and calm the nerves of the public.
"As farmers, we are dealt with challenges every single day, whether its mother nature not cooperating with us, or just tons of challenges thrown our way every single day and farmers are the most resilient people," said Klapper.
