Enlarge / Hen eggs are disposed of at a quarantined farm with hen flu in Israel’s northern village of Margaliot on January 3, 2022. (credit score: Getty | JALAA MAREY )
The flare-up of extremely pathogenic hen flu continues to widen in US livestock after federal officers confirmed final week that the virus has unfold to US cows for the primary time. The virus has now been detected in dairy cows in at the very least 5 states, a single individual in Texas uncovered to contaminated cows, and an egg farm in Texas, all spurring but extra intense monitoring and biosecurity vigilance because the scenario continues to evolve.
As of Tuesday, seven dairy herds in Texas, two in Kansas, and one every in Idaho, Michigan, and New Mexico had examined constructive for the virus. The affected dairy herd in Michigan had just lately acquired cows from one of many contaminated herds in Texas. It stays unclear if there’s cow-to-cow transmission of the flu virus.
The virus—a extremely pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza or HPAI—has been devastating wild birds worldwide for the previous a number of years. All through the devastating outbreak, the flu virus has spilled over to varied species, together with huge cats in zoos, river otters, bears, dolphins, seals, squirrels, and foxes. Whereas cows had been an sudden addition to the checklist, federal officers famous final week that affected dairy farms had discovered lifeless wild birds on their farms, suggesting that wild birds launched the virus to the cows, not an intermediate host.
Learn 5 remaining paragraphs | Feedback
