The California Department of Food and Agriculture confirmed a diagnosis of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza in a flock of 62,800 growing turkeys on September 18th. Depopulation and ring surveillance have been implemented.
Concurrently, APHIS reported six incident cases of bovine influenza-H5N1 in dairy herds in Merced County bringing the total in California to 16 since September 18th. A total of 231 dairy herds have been affected in 14 states but most of the herds have apparently recovered. There is no data on the number of animals culled as a result of suboptimal post-recovery milk production or incidence of zoonotic infection among workers.
Karen Ross, Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, stated, “We have been preparing for the possibility of HPAI since earlier this year when detections were confirmed on dairy farms in other states. She added, “Our extensive experience with HPAI in poultry has given us ample preparation and expertise to address this incident with worker’s and public health as our top priorities.”