Avian Influenza….for Cows

With your Southeast Regional Ag News, I’m Haylie Shipp. This is the Ag Information Network.

Avian Influenza….for Cows.

The USDA, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have now announced the detection of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in cattle.

The agencies say the disease seems to be affecting primarily older cows in Texas, Kansas, and New Mexico. This is the first time that HPAI has been identified as affecting dairy cattle and only the second time the virus has been detected in a ruminant animal.

Milk from the affected herds is not allowed to enter the milk supply. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service says migratory birds are the likely source of the infection.

“At this stage, there’s no concern that this circumstance poses a risk to consumer health,” APHIS says in a news release. Federal and state agencies are moving quickly to conduct additional testing for specific HPAI strains.

Let’s take it back to the birds. How is 2024 shaping up? According to APHIS data, the only outbreak within the last 30 days was in a commercial flock in South Dakota on March 12.

December 12 was the last case in Alabama, November 21 in Georgia, and February 8 in Florida.