The 2025 kentucky department for public health dairy hpai emergency cooperative agreement funding will contribute to payment for unexpected costs arising from the disease response to the dairy…

The Kentucky Department for Public Health received a $238,715.68 Cooperative Agreement award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care program (CFDA 10.025) to support emergency response efforts related to the 2025 dairy highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak. The award, announced on May 23, 2025, with a completion date of May 22, 2026, funds critical surveillance and response activities designed to detect and contain HPAI transmission in Kentucky dairy cattle. The Department will conduct monthly sampling of all permitted Kentucky dairy farms—at minimum four times over a six-month period—and maintain a comprehensive database of milk samples submitted to the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN). Additional deliverables include data entry and reporting, coordination with state and federal partners, and facilitation of public health measures for positive samples.

The award also covers costs associated with unexpected response expenditures, including state responder overtime, personnel travel, and sampling equipment necessary to sustain the surveillance program. Through direct farm-level sampling and engagement, the Department will provide producer education regarding HPAI biosecurity, reporting procedures, and response protocols while generating monthly summary data for submission to USDA. The cooperative agreement supports rapid detection and investigation of suspicious livestock illness reports to enable early identification of HPAI emergence in Kentucky dairy cattle, thereby minimizing disease transmission to other premises and protecting the state's livestock industry and agricultural trade.

The 2025 kentucky department for public health dairy hpai emergency cooperative agreement funding will contribute to payment for unexpected costs arising from the disease response to the dairy highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak. These costs include state responder overtime, personnel travel and sampling equipment. Activities performed by kentucky department for public health (DPH) personnel include sampling all permitted kentucky dairy farms monthly for no less than four times during a six-month period; maintain a database of all milk samples; deliver samples to nahln laboratory; data entry and reporting; facilitating public health measures for any non-negative samples; and coordinating with state, federal, and industry partners. Cooperator activities will maintain hpai surveillance and investigation of suspicious sick livestock calls to allow earliest detection should hpai emerge in kentucky dairy cattle. Farm level sampling will allow for producer education regarding hpai, biosecurity, reporting and response procedures in the event of a non-negative test. Monthly summary data will be shared with USDA, while positive test results will be immediately communicated by the testing laboratory. Rapid and effective response to hpai outbreak in kentucky minimizes further transmission of disease to other premises and minimizes the impact, to the extent possible, to agriculture trade within kentucky and with other states. This benefits the kentucky livestock industry, as well as consumers, who continue to have access to livestock and livestock products produced within the state.