Bird flu found in Iowa cattle for first time

(Photo by Jared Strong/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

A highly transmissible avian flu has infected dairy cattle of an O’Brien County herd in far northwest Iowa, according to state agriculture officials.

It is the first detection of bird flu in Iowa cattle and follows recent discoveries of the virus in poultry flocks in nearby counties.

Cows usually recover from the infections within two weeks, but highly pathogenic avian influenza is often fatal for domestic chickens and turkeys. Infected flocks are destroyed to prevent the virus’ spread.

“Poultry producers and dairy farmers should immediately take steps to harden their biosecurity defenses, limit unnecessary visitors and report symptomatic birds or cattle to the Department (of Agriculture and Land Stewardship),” Mike Naig, the state’s agriculture secretary, said Wednesday.

Naig said unspecified “additional response steps” are forthcoming from the department.

Iowa has about 850 dairy farms that range in size from 25 to 10,000 cows. A typical dairy has about 250.

Iowa is the 10th state with a confirmed infection in dairy cattle. The virus was first identified in Texas cattle in March, where it had festered for months as a mysterious illness. Wild birds are believed to be the source of the initial infections.

Since then, the virus has been found in more than 80 herds, including in faraway states such as South Dakota. The long distance spread has been attributed to the movement of infected cattle to new herds — which has since been restricted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture — but the virus has also spread among local herds in those states, possibly via farm workers, veterinarians and equipment.

The first recent detection of the virus in Iowa was last week in a flock of 4.2 million egg-laying hens in Sioux County , which lies just west of O’Brien. A genetic analysis of that virus revealed that it is the variant that has been infecting dairy cattle, IDALS said Wednesday.

The variant has demonstrated the ability to transfer from cattle to other livestock, poultry and people. Three people in other states who worked closely with infected cows have been infected — and the latest showed signs of respiratory illness — prompting public health concerns .

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said the virus’ risk to people is low, but human infections increase the likelihood that the virus could mutate to transmit person-to-person.

The other recent poultry infection in Iowa happened in Cherokee County , in a flock of about 103,000 turkeys. Genetic analyses of that virus and the one that infected the dairy herd are pending, IDALS said. The department is also attempting to uncover how the flocks and herd were infected.

The infected herd was discovered because the dairy operator noticed symptoms consistent with bird flu infection and contacted IDALS, which helped facilitate the testing, said Don McDowell, a spokesperson for the department.

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