On May 1st, according to Reuters, the H5N1 bird flu outbreak has reached dairy cows for the first time in the United States, sparking fears of potential transmission to humans via the nation's milk production. Since 2022, the bird flu has affected a vast number, including over 90 million chickens, more than 9,000 wild birds, 34 dairy herds, one individual in Texas in close contact with infected cattle, and another exposed to poultry.
Here's a timeline detailing the ongoing outbreak in the nation:
April 26th
Colorado marked the ninth U.S. state to confirm an infected dairy herd.
April 25th
Colombia implemented the first restriction on importing beef and beef products from U.S. states affected by the bird flu in dairy cows.
April 24th
The U.S. government announced its decision to mandate testing for bird flu in dairy cattle moving between states.
April 23rd
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the detection of bird flu virus particles in certain samples of pasteurized milk. However, they assured the public that the commercial milk supply remains safe as a result of pasteurization.
April 11th
South Dakota became the eighth U.S. state to confirm avian influenza in a dairy herd. This followed reports from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regarding infections in North Carolina, Texas, Kansas, Ohio, Michigan, Idaho, and New Mexico.
April 4th
The bird flu outbreak among dairy cows expanded to include a dairy herd in Ohio.
April 2nd
Mexico's agriculture ministry announced proactive measures to enhance surveillance and strengthen inspections of livestock imports from the United States following the discovery of bird flu in dairy cattle there.
April 1st
The second confirmed case of bird flu in humans in the United States was reported. The individual, hailing from Texas, had been in contact with dairy cows suspected of being infected with the virus.
The virus was found in dairy cattle in New Mexico, Michigan, and Idaho, as well as Texas and Kansas.
March 25
The USDA confirmed avian flu in samples of milk from ill cattle in Kansas and Texas, reassuring the safety of the nation's milk supply.
December 12, 2023
Egg producer Cal-Maine Foods halted production at a Kansas facility temporarily after detecting avian flu in some of the flock.
November 3, 2023
Arkansas, a major U.S. chicken producer, reported its first outbreak of lethal avian flu in a commercial poultry flock in a year.
October 6, 2023
The United States identified its initial case of avian flu on a commercial poultry farm since April, affecting a flock of 47,300 turkeys in Jerauld County, South Dakota.
April 14, 2023
The U.S. government announced testing of four potential bird flu vaccines for poultry following significant bird fatalities in the country's worst outbreak ever.
March 20, 2023
Leading flu vaccine manufacturers expressed readiness to produce hundreds of millions of bird flu shots for humans within months if a new strain of avian influenza emerged.
October 7, 2022
An avian flu outbreak struck a commercial flock of breeding chickens in Arkansas, exacerbating the disease's spread in the southern region. Nationwide, over 47 million birds have been lost to avian flu or culled to contain its spread, marking the nation's worst outbreak since 2015.
April 29, 2022
The first recorded human case of H5N1 bird flu in the United States was identified in an individual in Colorado involved in culling birds at a commercial poultry facility.
March 7, 2022
Over 22 million commercially raised U.S. chickens and turkeys were culled since February 2022 due to outbreaks of highly lethal avian flu.
March 4, 2022
An outbreak of bird flu was reported in a commercial flock of chickens raised for meat in Stoddard County, Missouri, marking the virus's spread to 10 commercial chicken and turkey farms across four states.
February 9, 2022
The USDA documented an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian flu in an Indiana turkey flock, the first case in a commercial poultry operation since 2020.