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A mysterious disease circulating in dairy cows located in the Texas Panhandle, New Mexico, and Kansas has been baffling the agriculture industry, but no more. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller announced he received confirmation from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) that the mystery disease has been identified as a strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). USDA said affected dairy cows do not appear to be transmitting the virus to other cattle within the same herd.
According to USDA, as of March 25, unpasteurized, clinical samples of milk from sick cattle collected from two dairy farms in Kansas and one in Texas, as well as an oropharyngeal swab from another dairy in Texas, have tested positive for the virus. Additional testing was initiated on March 22 and over the weekend because farms have also reported finding deceased wild birds on their properties. Based on findings from Texas, the detections appear to have been introduced by wild birds.
New Mexico had also reported dairy cows with similar symptoms, but those cases have not been confirmed as HPAI at this time.
USDA said federal and state agencies are moving quickly to conduct additional testing for HPAI, as well as viral genome sequencing, to better understand the situation, including characterization of the HPAI strain or strains associated with these detections.
www.feedstuffs.com
According to USDA, as of March 25, unpasteurized, clinical samples of milk from sick cattle collected from two dairy farms in Kansas and one in Texas, as well as an oropharyngeal swab from another dairy in Texas, have tested positive for the virus. Additional testing was initiated on March 22 and over the weekend because farms have also reported finding deceased wild birds on their properties. Based on findings from Texas, the detections appear to have been introduced by wild birds.
New Mexico had also reported dairy cows with similar symptoms, but those cases have not been confirmed as HPAI at this time.
USDA said federal and state agencies are moving quickly to conduct additional testing for HPAI, as well as viral genome sequencing, to better understand the situation, including characterization of the HPAI strain or strains associated with these detections.
Mystery dairy cow disease confirmed as highly pathogenic avian influenza
Two dairies in Texas, two in Kansas have tested positive for virus.
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