By Stephanie Soucheray
Inspection Service (APHIS) reported new detections of H5N1 avian flu, with positive tests revealing the virus in five Idaho dairy herds.
The milking cows were the first avian flu detections in cattle since a Wisconsin report in December 2025. The new detection comes almost exactly two years since US officials first recorded avian influenza in dairy cattle.
RNA detected in bull semen
In related news in Emerging Infectious Diseases, researchers examined bovine semen to determine if shedding of the virus in semen could result in silent viral spread within herds and across geographic regions through artificial insemination.
The study, published yesterday, was based on observations of natural breeding bulls on an H5N1-affected dairy farm in California, and was inconclusive in determining if semen was a good conduit for the virus, with limited evidence of seroconversion.
Source : umn.edu