Washington Bird Flu Hits 27 Dairy Farms in 3 Weeks as State Expands Weekly Testing
Updated
Updated · Idaho Capital Sun · Oct 30
Washington Bird Flu Hits 27 Dairy Farms in 3 Weeks as State Expands Weekly Testing
3 articles · Updated · Idaho Capital Sun · Oct 30
Summary
Twenty-seven Washington dairy farms tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza within three weeks after the first detections in two Yakima County herds in early October and another in Benton County on Oct. 26.
State veterinarian Amber Itle said the virus is "moving fast" despite containment, with known spread linked to moving sick cows and contaminated equipment and possible transmission also under study from flies, wind and birds.
Washington has become the 20th state to detect avian influenza in dairy cattle, a sharp turn after more than 7,000 farm-level bird flu tests over the past two years had all come back negative until three weeks ago.
Weekly testing is now underway across every farm in the affected milkshed, while officials say human risk remains very low and recommend pasteurized milk because processing kills the virus.