Oklahoma recently became the 13th state to confirm HPAI in a dairy herd; however, officials say the infection happened back in April. According to Reuters, the dairy had stored the samples but did not send them in until applying for financial assistance for lost milk production.
The delay is bringing to light concerns from public health officials over low testing numbers in some states.
State officials in Missouri say no farmers there have reported any cases of the virus but the Missouri Independent says only 17 of the 60,000 dairy cows have been tested. Missouri’s State Veterinarian says while only a small fraction of the state’s dairy cows have been tested, farmers would if they believed their herds were sick. In Kansas, dairy specialists at K-State are working with German researchers to study how the virus is moving through the U.S. dairy herd.
“It does appear that the spread of the virus is typically through the teeth canal. Research at Kansas State University looked at infecting the utters of cows with the virus, and those animals developed the virus. Research in Germany also looked at different methods of infection. They did infect some other cows as well, and those animals did develop HPAI and the typical symptoms that we see. They also infected some other animals with the virus through the mouth and the nose,” said Mike Brouk.
Since the virus began appearing in dairy cattle, Kansas health officials have confirmed four cases in the state.
