USDA confirms HPAI outbreaks in Nevada dairy herds
Targeted starling removal a critical step
5 February 2025
2 minute read
By: The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) confirmed H5N1 avian flu detections in Nevada dairy herds on Sunday, according to a news release from the University of Minnesota's CIDRAP.
It is the state's first outbreak in dairy cattle since December, along with several more detections in US poultry flocks.
In other developments, European health officials shared more details about the latest UK case, including genetic details, and North Dakota wildlife officials are monitoring a Canada goose die-off along the Missouri River in the central part of the state.
Targeted starling removal a critical step
Nevada reported its first H5N1 detection in dairy cows in early December 2024, which affected a herd in Nye County, located northwest of Las Vegas.
In two recent statements, the Nevada Department of Agriculture (NDA) said the virus had been detected in dairy cattle in Churchill County, which borders Nye County to the northwest. Officials said they, along with USDA wildlife services, are taking additional actions to prevent the spread of avian flu. Dairy cattle in both of the counties have been placed in quarantine, and the USDA investigators begin surveillance and testing wildlife to better determine which strains are circulating and how the virus is spreading.
Federal and state groups will also begin removing non-native European starling populations in Churchill, Pershing, and Lyon counties. The NDA called the starling removal a "critical step" and that due to their large numbers, the birds are a nuisance population that can spread disease and contaminate animals' food and water sources.
"The challenge with this virus is that it may be spread through contaminated clothing worn and equipment shared between animals, but birds carrying the disease can also infect domestic animals and livestock," NDA director J.J. Goicoechea, DVM, said in a January 31 statement.
The NDA has already been conducting testing at milk silos as part of the National Milk Testing Strategy to detect the virus before cows on dairy farms show symptoms.
Alongside the four new H5N1 confirmations in Nevada dairy herds, APHIS also reported one more detection in a California herd, raising the national total to 956 and California's total to 735.
