USDA Adds USDA Adds 9 Additional Mice To HPAI Detections in Mammals List (n= 75)

 

#18,191

In addition to recently adding (now 33) domestic cats to their list of wild mammals contracting HPAI H5N1, five weeks ago the USDA began adding a new species - Mus musculus  - the common house mouse to their list. 

While frustratingly, few details have been released, all of these mice appear to have come from a single poultry farm in Roosevelt County, New Mexico.

The  WAHIS dashboard carried a report in June stating that `Wild house mice (Mus musculus) and wild red fox (Vulpes vulpes) collected from an HPAI affected poultry premises.'

Today, after adding no new mice to the list for 4 weeks, 9 more showed up on today's update.  All were collected, and tested positive, in May (see list below).  It is unclear why we are only hearing about these cases now. 

 

For the first time in several weeks, no new cats were added, although a red fox from New York State, and a Raccoon from Iowa were added to the list which now has 346 entries.

Despite the fact that H5N1 has been detected in wild birds across the continental United States and Alaska, only 30 states have reported finding the virus in mammalian wildlife.  

While wild animals often die in remote and difficult to access places, it does appear that some states are looking harder for cases than others.