The U.S. Department of Agriculture Friday announced a new national milk testing order to check for H5N1 bird flu. It requires raw unpasteurized milk samples nationwide sent to USDA for testing.

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said the move will "put us on a path to quickly controlling and stopping the virus’ spread nationwide.”

Nearly a year after a wild bird infected with H5N1 avian flu presumably passed its viral baggage to a dairy cow in the Texas panhandle — which has subsequently led to the infection of more than 700 herds nationwide and sickened at least 32 dairy workers — the nation’s agriculture department announced Friday that it will sample the nation’s milk supply to test for the virus.