I work in animal health. We've been watching this for a while - both for the potential impact on farmers/producers, as well as from a human angle. One of our internal updates had the below - I think right now human risk is very low. Those who do contract something have had very mild symptoms. Cattle risk is still quite low too - I don't believe it's fatal to the cow, and as noted, pasteurization kills the virus in milk.
The bigger risk is honestly economically - if this moves into domestic poultry flocks, you'll see one of two things - mass bird deaths, which will kill the flock sizes, OR mandatory vaccinations - which under current regulations would destroy the export market as typically vaccinated birds cannot be exported.
Effective Monday, April 29, 2024, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced a Federal Order issued by the Biden administration requiring the following measures of (1) mandatory testing for interstate movement of dairy cattle and (2) mandatory reporting. USDA confirmed they have not found changes to the virus that would make it more transmissible to humans and between people. U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reinforces that current risk to the public remains low. The FDA and USDA continue to indicate that the commercial milk supply is safe because of the pasteurization process and the diversion of milk from sick cows.
