The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) on December 14 announced a recall of raw milk from a second producer—Valley Milk Simply Bottled in Stanislaus County—based on positive tests for avian flu from bulk-milk testing samples.
Stanislaus County is part of California's Central Valley, which has been hit hard by H5N1 outbreaks in dairy cows since August. Unlike the earlier raw-milk recall involving products from Raw Farms, the recall of Valley Milk's raw milk wasn't based on positive samples from products on retail shelves.
In its statement, the CDFA said the recall order applies to quarts, half-gallons, and gallon plastic jugs with date codes ranging from December 23 to December 30.
So far no human cases have been confirmed in people who consumed raw milk, but two cat deaths were reported in pets that were exposed to products from Raw Farms.
Probable human case in Delaware with unknown exposure
In its December 13 update on human cases, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) added one more probable case to its list, which involves a patient from Delaware whose exposure to the virus isn't known.
So far, no other details from state or federal health officials are available. The CDC has reported seven probable cases.
Since the first of the year, the CDC has reported 60 confirmed human cases. Most involve exposure to sick cows or poultry, but 2 have unknown exposure sources, 1 in California and 1 in Missouri.
Louisiana poultry confirmation brings affected states to 50
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today announced that tests have confirmed highly pathogenic avian influenza for the first time in a Louisiana poultry flock, bringing the number of affected states to all 50.
The outbreak involves a backyard poultry flock in Bossier Parish, which is in the northwestern part of the state near Shreveport.
Louisiana recently reported its first probable human avian flu case, and the state's wildlife officials recently warned of rising avian flu cases in wild birds due to the fall migration.
More avian flu in California cows, poultry in multiple states
APHIS today confirmed 8 more H5N1 outbreaks in dairy cattle, all in California. The additions push the national total to 853 affected herds and California's total to 638.
Meanwhile, APHIS reported more poultry outbreaks in two states, four of them involving commercial farms in California.
In California, the virus hit two farms in Tulare County: a broiler farm that has 514,500 birds and a duck meat producer that has 41,100 birds. Outbreaks also involve two other duck producers in separate counties, a breeding facility in Monterey County that has 13,700 birds and a meat producer in Merced County that has 119,000 birds.
Elsewhere, APHIS confirmed an outbreak in Illinois poultry, marking the state's second such event in the past month. The outbreak occurred at a turkey breeder hen facility in Livingston County that has 40,900 birds.
In more quickly evolving developments, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources today warned of a sharp jump in avian flu in wild birds, mainly north of Interstate 80, an area that includes roughly the northern two thirds of the state.
Also, three Midwestern state agriculture departments announced more detections in poultry, which haven't yet been confirmed by APHIS.
Michigan today reported its first outbreak in poultry since May, which involves a commercial farm in Ottawa County; Iowa on December 13 reported an outbreak at a layer farm in O'Brien County; and Wisconsin on December 12 reported an outbreak on a commercial poultry flock in Barron County.
