California Declares State of Emergency Amid H5N1 Bird Flu Outbreak

Los Angeles — On Wednesday (Dec. 18), California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in response to an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu, following reports of 34 human infections in the state.

The emergency declaration was issued after cases were detected among dairy cattle in several farms across Southern California. Authorities emphasized the urgent need for enhanced monitoring and measures to contain and mitigate the outbreak statewide.

Currently, there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission of bird flu in California. Nearly all infected individuals had direct exposure to infected cattle. The state has implemented the largest disease surveillance and monitoring system in the country to combat the outbreak.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that H5N1 bird flu has spread to dairy cattle in 16 states as of Wednesday (Dec. 18). The virus was first detected in Texas and Kansas in March 2024.

The CDC also confirmed a total of 61 cases of H5N1 bird flu in the US since April. On Wednesday, a severe case requiring hospitalization was reported in Louisiana.

The first US bird flu case was identified in a wild bird flock in South Carolina in January 2022, followed by detections in wild bird populations in California in July 2022.

Source:

- Xinhua