Cows on three California dairy farms have tested positive for bird flu, according to the state’s agriculture department.
The announcement was made on Friday, and means the US outbreak has now reached a total of 14 states and 190 herds since March. Thirteen dairy and poultry workers have also been infected.
At present, no human cases have been confirmed in California. The infected dairy herds are all located in the state’s Central Valley region, and began showing symptoms last Wednesday.
The infected cows have been isolated for treatment, while healthy cows are continuing to produce milk for sale, after pasteurization.
“This is a tough time for our dairy farmers given the economic challenges they’re facing,” said Karen Ross, California’s agriculture secretary.
“We are approaching this incident with the utmost urgency.”
Although the scale of the outbreak is still modest, state and health authorities are now ramping up measures against the threat of a bird-flu pandemic, including the development of new vaccines.
In July, Colorado Governor Jared Polis announced a state of emergency, in response to an outbreak of bird flu at a massive Weld County chicken farm. Two million birds were scheduled for slaughter.
At least five poultry workers also tested positive for the virus, all of whom suffered only mild symptoms such as irritated eyes and a runny nose.
The US government has announced a $176 million investment in a new mRNA bird flu vaccine developed by Moderna.
In June, the World Health Organization said that a new strain of bird flu detected in humans for the first time has the “potential for high public health impact.” They claimed the death of a 59-year-old man in Mexico with “multiple underlying conditions” was a “confirmed fatal case of human infection with avian influenza A(H5N2) virus,” a claim that Mexico’s health ministry disputed, saying the death was due to underlying conditions that led to septic shock.
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