As H5N1 avian flu outbreaks in industrial and yard poultry throughout the USA proceed at a brisk tempo, the US Division of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Well being Inspection Service (APHIS) has reported a number of extra detections in home cats.
Additionally, APHIS confirmed 5 extra detections in dairy cattle, all from California, and greater than 50 in wild birds throughout a number of states.
Industrial and yard farms hit
Over the past 2 days, APHIS reported the virus in additional poultry flocks throughout seven states, with a number of involving industrial farms.
In hard-hit Ohio, outbreaks had been confirmed on 4 extra layer farms and three extra turkey farms. And in neighboring Pennsylvania, the virus struck 5 extra industrial farms.
Elsewhere, outbreaks struck two extra farms in Missouri, together with a turkey farm in Lawrence County and a broiler farm in Newton County.
In the meantime, federal officers confirmed findings at two extra stay fowl markets in New York’s Queens and Bronx counties. Earlier detections at stay markets in Queens, the Bronx, and Brooklyn prompted New York’s governor final week to announce a short lived closure of stay fowl markets in New York Metropolis, Westchester, Suffolk and Nassau counties.
APHIS additionally reported new outbreaks in yard flocks in Louisiana’s Calcasieu County, Washington’s Mason County, and Connecticut’s New London County.
Because the virus first emerged in US poultry in early 2022, outbreaks have led to the lack of a report 157.7 million birds throughout all 50 states and Puerto Rico.
With detections persevering with in home and wild birds, the Michigan Division of Agriculture and Rural Improvement right this moment urged poultry house owners to proceed to take steps to guard their birds, particularly as wild birds start their spring migration.
Officers added that although it’s not possible to foretell what is going to occur within the spring, “it’s sure that this illness will proceed to impression Michigan’s animal agriculture, and taking preventative measures to maintain HPAI [highly pathogenic avian influenza] away from home birds stays important.”
Extra detections in cows and wild birds
In associated developments, APHIS confirmed 5 extra detections in dairy cattle, all from California. The newest additions carry the nationwide complete to 962 and California’s complete to 744.
The virus additionally continues its heavy toll in wild birds. APHIS right this moment added greater than 50 H5N1 confirmations to its record of birds discovered useless in a number of states, which incorporates gulls, geese, geese, and birds of prey.
The record additionally contains hunter-harvested and live-sampled waterfowl from states together with Louisiana, Indiana, Arizona, Nebraska, Oregon, and Michigan.
Virus strikes extra home cats in 3 states
APHIS right this moment confirmed three extra H5N1 detections in home cats, which incorporates an contaminated stray cat in California’s San Mateo County introduced by county officers on February 6. The cat was taken in for medical care by a household in Half Moon Bay when it developed signs. It’s not recognized how the cat was contaminated, and the animal was euthanized because of its situation.
The opposite confirmations contain a cat from Montana’s Flathead County that was sampled on December 5, 2024, and a cat from Oregon’s Multnomah County that was sampled on February 3.
