An NPR reporter collected samples of raw milk from 4 farms in Texas, and asked a USDA-authorized lab to test for bird flu. The lab refused to do it, because the farms wouldn't give them permission to test, even though permission isn't required. Wow.
@luckytran dunno if it's related but we had a sheep disease some years ago; several sheep died. We wanted the "Tierseuchenkasse" (sort of CDC for animals in Germany) to test the cadavers. They refused.
Totally unrelated side info: If there's a recognized disease they have to pay money to farmers who lost animals. But ofc this has nothing to do with their refusal.
@luckytran This sounds like the Texas lab didn't want to get sued by the Texas raw milk providers, even though the USDA says they can test the milk. Freakin Texan good ole' boy system at work also.