Mitigating the Impact of HPAI on Dairy Farms: Bridging Knowledge Gaps in Crisis Communication, Biosecurity, and Public Health

The cross-species spread of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 to U.S. dairy cattle in 2024 highlights urgent biosecurity and communication challenges. This mixed-methods study analyzes survey data from 266 Vermont dairy farms and social media analytics of global data from 29 million exposures and 558 government accounts. Key findings reveal 14% of farms introduced unquarantined heifers, 76% of farms lacked quarantine facilities for returning animals, 77% omitted post-exhibition isolation, 86% housed cats, and 27% had frequent wild bird interactions. Social media themes like “Food Supply”, “Die of Bird Flu”, “Farm Worker”, and “Drink Raw Milk” dominated discourse in association with H5N1 and dairy, with sentiment analysis showing 59% negative public perception. The IDEA model (Internalization, Distribution, Explanation, Action) is proposed as a theoretical framework to counter misinformation and enhance communication efficacy. Recommendations include infrastructure investment, community-driven communication, and leveraging local networks to build biosecurity resilience.