Many farm cows infected with bird flu died in 5 US states

In five US states, dairy cows infected with bird flu died or were slaughtered by farmers because they failed to recover. This suggests that the bird flu epidemic may have a greater economic impact on the agricultural region than initially thought. Farmers have long been culling poultry infected with bird flu, but raising cows is much more costly than raising chickens or turkeys.

A U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesman said the agency was aware of a few deaths, but the vast majority have recovered. Reuters was unable to determine the total number of cows killed or culled from bird flu in South Dakota, Michigan, Texas, Ohio and Colorado.

Dairy cows in more than 80 herds in 10 states have been infected with bird flu since the end of March, according to the Department of Agriculture. Some animals died from secondary infections they contracted after bird flu weakened their immune systems, state veterinarians and agriculture officials said. Other cows were killed by farmers because they could not recover from the virus.

Cows infected with bird flu experience problems such as decreased milk production, digestive problems, fever and loss of appetite. A dairy farm in South Dakota sent its cows to slaughter after they failed to recover from the virus and developed secondary infections. A farm in Michigan killed 10% of its infected cows because they failed to recover from the virus. Michigan has the most confirmed infections and is home to two in three U.S. dairy workers infected with bird flu.

In Colorado, some dairy farms culled cows infected with bird flu that did not return to milk production. Ohio and Texas officials also confirmed cows died due to secondary infections.

New Mexico’s state veterinarian, Samantha Uhrig, said farmers culled more cows early in the pandemic as milk production decreased. Officials in North Carolina and Kansas noted few or no cow deaths associated with bird flu in their states. Idaho officials did not respond to requests for information.

Last month, the Ministry of Agriculture reported that particles of bird flu virus were found in meat tissue from a dairy cow sent for slaughter, and that the animal’s meat did not enter the food supply. He also announced that the virus was not found in experimentally infected ground beef.