#18,317
On the heel's of Monday's update (see California: Number of Infected Dairy Herds Double (n=34) Over the Weekend), today the USDA has announced 6 more infected herds, bringing California's confirmed total to 40.
As of this writing, there is no new update on the CFDA website, but previous cases have been discovered primarily due to targeted testing of dairies which have had connections with, or are in close proximity to, already confirmed positive sites.
No statewide mandatory testing of bulk milk (such as we've seen in Colorado) appears to be in place, so it is unknown how widespread the virus truly is in California's livestock.
The latest cases (which provide no description of size or location) include:
Testing of bulk milk, or dairy cows, remains largely on a voluntary basis (except prior to interstate transport) in most states. Unfortunately, HPAI in cattle continues to be treated as more of an economic or political problem, than a legitimate public health concern.
Even if it turns out there is little direct risk to humans from infected cows, the virus continues to spread from livestock into other species (cats, mice, voles, even back into birds), and where that eventually leads is anyone's guess.
Stay tuned.
