(1:39:33) 9:59 AM Update on Milk Surveillance for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza
Dr. Emily Kaleczyc updated the BOL on the Avian Influenza surveillance in dairy cattle that the Animal Health Bureau had been conducting in Montana:
- Dr. Kaleczyc reported that as of May 1, 2026, monthly silo sampling, which was pooled milk collected from Great Falls and Billings plants, had been discontinued. Almost concurrently with that decision, USDA announced that lactating dairy cattle from states that had achieved the unaffected HPAI-free status, would no longer require an individual cow test to ship across state lines, which she did not expect to be a significant impact for Montana producers
(1:42:27) 10:02 AM Pseudorabies
Dr. Emily Kaleczyc updated the BOL on the first detection of pseudorabies in commercial swine in the United States in 20 years, that was found at a small commercial swine facility in Iowa:
- The Iowa case, Dr. Kaleczyc said, was traced back to a transitional swine herd in Texas that had potential exposure to feral swine. Two boars from the Iowa facility bred some sows in Montana who had since then, undergone a whole herd test, which was negative, with a second whole herd test scheduled in mid-June
- Dr. Kaleczyc explained that the boars that came from Iowa to Montana were on their way to Washington and never tested positive, but had been housed with the positive animals from Texas. There was no health certificate for the boars to come to Montana and so, it was a non-compliant movement
(1:52:32) 10:12 AM Update on CCT Certification for Dr. Brenee Peterson (Non-Agenda Item)
Dr. Emily Kaleczyc thanked the BOL for their approval for Dr. Brennee Peterson to travel out of state and assist with TB testing in order to get CCT certified. She reported that Dr. Peterson, just the day before, had been called to inject for a CCT and would be returning on Friday to read it, and so having her CCT certification had already been a benefit to the DOL
(1:53:23) 10:13 AM Update on New World Screwworm (Non-Agenda Item)
Dr. Emily Kaleczyc reported that in an update she had seen the day before, Mexico had picked up an additional state affected with New World Screwworm. A cat was found affected last week, and the most recent case, was a calf in that same state, Coahu, located 55 miles south of the US border
(1:56:12) 10:16 AM – MEAT, MILK & EGG INSPECTION BUREAU
(1:56:28) 10:16 AM Preliminary Report on USDA-FSIS Audit (Audit will not be final) Alicia Love gave an update on the most recent on-site USDA-FSIS Audit:
- Ms. Love explained that USDA's determination had not yet been made, as they took some time to look at everything and had additional follow-up questions. She said that the exit meeting was scheduled for June 21, 2026. She did expect some retraining to be done on Specified Risk Materials (SRMs) to assure that the