By Ryan Hanrahan
USA Today’s Marc Ramirez reported that “Nebraska has confirmed its first case of bird flu in a dairy cattle herd as a lingering 18-month outbreak continues to afflict livestock nationwide, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on Sept. 15.”
“The state’s department of agriculture, aided by the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said in a press release that it had confirmed the case of highly pathogenic avian influenza in a central Nebraska herd and that the herd had been quarantined,” Ramirez reported. “Though decelerating, cases of H5N1 bird flu have now been confirmed in more than 1,000 herds across 17 U.S. states since the virus was initially found in dairy cows in March 2024, according to the USDA, including cases this year in Texas, Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Michigan and California.”
“The National Veterinary Services Laboratories said the strain resembles one found in California, the department said, adding that with care, dairy cattle typically recover with little to no associated mortality,” Ramirez reported.
“Scott Hensley, a professor of microbiology at the (University of Pennsylvania), told USA TODAY the announcement wasn’t unexpected given the virus’s ongoing circulation among cattle,” Ramirez reported. “‘It will be important to determine if the Nebraska herd represents a new bird-to-cow infection, or if the virus was brought into the state by an already infected cow,’ he said.”
Source : illinois.edu