Bird flu found in two Kansas dairy herds

Cattle from two dairy herds in Kansas have tested positive for the highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said in a news release that milk samples from sick cattle on two farms in Kansas and one in Texas were found to have the pathogen.

It is believed the virus was transmitted by wild birds, and initial tests have not found any changes that would make the virus more transmissible to humans. The news release says the “current risk to the public remains low.”

USDA is investigating illnesses among “primarily older dairy cows in Texas, Kansas and New Mexico” along with the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state veterinary and public health agencies. The illness has caused decreased lactation, low appetite and other symptoms in cattle.

The Kansas Department of Agriculture said in an email it did not know the number of cattle affected. The tests announced Monday represented the first cases of HPAI in commercial dairy herds in Kansas, the agency said in a news release.

The USDA estimated for herds that are exhibiting symptoms, about 10% of the animals are affected “with little to no associated mortality reported.”

According to the USDA release, there is no concern the illnesses among the cattle pose a risk to consumer health. Dairies are only permitted to sell milk from healthy animals. Milk from the sick cattle will be diverted or destroyed.

“In addition, pasteurization has continually proven to inactivate bacteria and viruses, like influenza, in milk,” the USDA news release says. “Pasteurization is required for any milk entering interstate commerce.”

And milk loss from the affected cattle, USDA said, is limited and should not have a major impact on supply or price of milk and other dairy products.

Federal and state agencies encouraged farmers and veterinarians to quickly report any cattle illnesses to assist with monitoring.