The cases in dairy cattle and the second human case in two years in the US have renewed concerns about the virus, which has been infecting flocks of birds and a growing number of other species around the world since 2022.
A positive test at a Texas egg farm prompted Cal-Maine to cull 1.6 million chickens, the company said Tuesday. Texas has never experienced such a large outbreak at a commercial poultry facility, Miller said.
“This is transmitted by waterfowl,” the state commissioner said in an interview. “We are in the season of migration.”
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) first reported on March 25 that a cow and milk from two farms in Texas tested positive for bird flu, along with milk from two farms in Kansas. The agency later confirmed positive tests in other dairy herds in Texas, New Mexico, Michigan and Idaho.
The strain of the virus found in subsequent states is very similar to the strain confirmed in the initial cases in Texas and Kansas, which appear to have been introduced by wild birds, the USDA said.
“We’re ready for the ducks to head north to their nesting sites,” Miller said. “We believe that within a week or so, they will all be out of Texas and we will be out of danger.”
Tags: Bird flu hits cows chickens humans Texas duck migration
