Bird Flu Virus Detected In Oklahoma Dairy Cattle Farm

UNSPLASH/Jonathan Greenaway ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - Oklahoma's Department of Agriculture, United States, detected bird flu in a herd of dairy cows. This finding makes it the 13th US state with the virus.

Positivity samples of highly pathogenic bird flu (HPAI) were collected by farms in April and recently handed over to the US Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) for testing.

The herd has fully recovered and the farm has not reported any other HPAI cases, the department said.

The commercial milk supply remains safe due to federal animal health requirements and pasteurization, the department said.

The US confirmed its first case on dairy farm on March 25 and a dairy worker in Texas tested positive on April 1, raising concerns about the spread of the virus among animals and humans.

Other states that have reported infected cattle are Wyoming, Iowa, Minnesota, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota and Texas.

Dairy cow breeders in the US stepped up their defenses in an effort to stem the spread of bird flu by banning visitors, cutting down trees to prevent wild birds from landing, and disinfecting vehicles entering their lands.

Our team continues to communicate with Oklahoma dairy companies to ask them to improve their biosecurity practices. PPE (self-protective equipment) is also available to Oklahoma dairy farmers, Oklahoma veterinarian Dr. Rod Hall said.