Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5 clade 2.3.4.4b has been confirmed in a dairy cattle herd in Oregon, the first reported case of the disease in cattle in the state, according to the US Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).
USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratories confirmed the virus by PCR testing, and APHIS will announce the results of genetic sequencing when they are available. The herd was being tested under Oregon's ongoing surveillance of dairy cattle and had tested negative every time before this detection, which came through routine checks under the National Milk Testing Strategy.
Dairy cattle in 22 states have been infected since the outbreak began in March 2024, and APHIS has seen cases in previously unaffected states this year. The agency is working with the Oregon Department of Agriculture on further farm investigations, diagnostic testing and epidemiological work to understand the detection and stop further spread.
The finding does not change USDA's strategy of eradicating the virus. APHIS recommends enhanced biosecurity on all dairy farms and asks producers to report at once any livestock with clinical signs, or any unusual sick or dead wildlife, to their state veterinarian.
Officials say the detection poses no risk to consumers and does not affect the safety of the commercial milk supply. The US Food and Drug Administration is confident that pasteurisation inactivates the virus, dairies may send only milk from healthy animals for human consumption, and milk from affected animals is diverted or destroyed. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the viruses circulating in birds and dairy cattle pose a low risk to the general public, though people exposed to infected birds or mammals through work or recreation are at higher risk and should follow CDC precautions.
The report was written by Melanie Epp.
Photo: Gerhard Elsner / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Source: The Cattle Site
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