The U.S. government since last week has reported cases of the disease in seven dairy herds in Texas and one person who had contact with cows, making it the state most affected by the country’s first-ever outbreaks in cattle. Texas is the biggest U.S. cattle producer.
The cases in dairy cattle and the second human case in two years in the US renewed concerns about the virus, which has been infecting poultry flocks and a growing number of other species globally since 2022.
A positive test at a Texas egg farm led egg producer Cal-Maine to cull 1.6 million laying hens, the company said on Tuesday. Texas had never before suffered such a major outbreak at a commercial poultry facility, Miller said.
“This is spread by waterfowl,” he said in an interview. “We are ready for the ducks to head north to their nesting grounds.”
