California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom has issued a proactive state of emergency concerning the bird flu in the wake of concerns growing in the state and nationwide.
The governor's office said on Wednesday that the proclamation came after more cases of the disease were detected in dairy cows in Southern California, reports CBS News.
"This proclamation is a targeted action to ensure government agencies have the resources and flexibility they need to respond quickly to this outbreak," the governor said in a statement.
He pointed out that the risk to the public remains low, but said California officials "will continue to take all necessary steps to prevent the spread of this virus."
Newsom added that the state has implemented an effort to combat bird flu by working with poultry and dairy farms to minimize exposure to farm workers.
Health officials said most of the confirmed cases of bird flu in humans have been with dairy and farm workers.
The state of emergency declaration will allow funding to open for state and local agencies to respond to the situation.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also on Wednesday reported the first severe illness due to bird flu in a case from Louisiana.
According to the CDC, 61 human cases of H5N1 bird flu have been reported in the United States since April, with more than half of those cases, 34, in California.
Since March, the virus has infected more than 860 dairy herds in 16 states and has killed 123 million poultry since the outbreak started in 2022.
The threat to birds has been going on for about two years but has recently jumped to cattle, specifically dairy cattle, with bio-security measures now being imposed.
"We have about 600 dairies inside California right now that are in quarantine because of avian influenza," Dr. Michael Payne, a large animal researcher at UC Davis commented.
He said the virus makes cattle ill but does not kill them.
"When it does infect them, especially lactating cows, milk cows, the virus can be excreted in concentrations inside the milk, and that is what we're worried about from a public health standpoint," Payne said.
University of California infectious disease specialist Dr. Peter Chin-Hong said the disease is already a pandemic with birds, "and what we're trying to do is prevent it becoming a pandemic in humans."
"Right now, it's a dead end in terms of getting into humans because it hasn't figured out the right key to unlock the door into our bodies," he said. "But the more transmissions that occur – like in dairy cows, like in birds – the more it's going to randomly figure out that mutant, that variant, that can cause more human-to-human transmission."
Health officials warn against consuming unpasteurized milk because of concerns about bacteria.
Earlier this month, one California raw milk dairy issued a voluntary recall after bird flu was detected, although the virus was not linked to any cases in humans.
The H5N1 bird flu virus can be deadly for humans, according to public health leaders.
The World Health Organization reports there have been more than 860 recorded human infections in 19 countries since 2003, and that 53% of those cases resulted in death.
No deaths have been reported in the United States from the recent outbreak.
Bird flu infection symptoms in humans are similar to those of influenza, with a severity ranging from no symptoms to severe infection.
Reuters contributed to this article.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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