According to the US government, bird flu has infected a dairy herd in Ohio for the first time and has also been discovered in herds in Kansas and New Mexico, increasing an outbreak in cows that has prompted concerns about potential human hazards.
Since March 25, when incidents were first reported in Texas and Kansas, the USDA has verified illnesses in herds in six states.
Department of Agriculture Ohio
The afflicted dairy in Ohio got animals from a Texas dairy on March 8, which later confirmed the presence of avian flu, according to the Ohio Department of Agriculture. According to the USDA, illness transmission between cows cannot be completely ruled out.
According to USDA
According to the USDA, the viral strain in subsequent cases in New Mexico, Michigan, and Idaho was extremely similar to that of the original cases in Texas and Kansas, which appear to have been brought by wild birds.
Since 2022, migratory birds have carried bird flu over the world, affecting poultry and other species.
“In the state of Kansas, all the genetic sequencing data that we can come up with is still indicating it is a spillover event from a wild bird exposure,” Kansas Animal Health Commissioner Justin Smith said in an interview on Thursday.
Dairy herds in Kansas
Bird flu has been discovered in three dairy herds in Kansas, two in New Mexico, seven in Texas, and one each in Ohio, Idaho, and Michigan, according to the USDA.
The spread to an increasing number of species, as well as its expanding geographic reach, have increased the risk of human infection, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health’s director-general on Thursday.
Texas officials revealed on Monday that a farm worker tested positive, with the only symptom being eye irritation. The United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention believes the risk of avian flu to humans to be minimal.
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