The US Division of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Well being Inspection Service (APHIS) immediately added 5 extra dairy herds in three states to its record of H5N1 avian flu outbreak confirmations.
Additionally, APHIS confirmed the virus in three extra cats from two states, each of that are experiencing H5N1 outbreak in dairy cows and poultry.
Dairy herd confirmations rise to 145
A lot of the APHIS confirmations contain detections initially introduced by states. The newly added outbreaks embody 3 in Colorado, 1 in Michigan, and 1 in Texas, boosting the USDA’s complete to 145 in 12 states.
Individually, the Minnesota Board of Animal Well being reported one other new outbreak in a dairy herd, which entails cows from Benton County within the central a part of the state. Minnesota has now reported eight H5N1 outbreaks at dairy farms.
Extra cat and wild-bird positives
In associated developments, APHIS confirmed H5N1 detections in three extra home cats, two from Minnesota and one from Michigan, elevating the whole since 2022 to 33.
A notification from the World Group for Animal Well being (WOAH) stated the cats from Minnesota had been feral barn cats on an affected dairy farm in Sibley County in south central Minnesota. Samples had been collected on June 10.
In the meantime, APHIS stated samples from the Michigan cat had been collected on April 18 and that the cat was from Ottawa County, one among 10 Michigan counties affected by outbreaks in dairy cows. Additionally, APHIS reported an H5N1 detection in a raccoon from Ottawa County, with samples collected on the identical date because the cat.
Moreover, APHIS reported 4 extra H5N1 detections in wild birds from two Iowa counties, all agency-harvested birds that had been sampled in mid to late June. The birds that examined optimistic had been from Plymouth and Sioux counties and included a red-winged blackbird, robin, turkey vulture, and barn swallow.
