Late last week the US Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory confirmed the detection of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) on two Yakima County dairy farms in Washington.

“This marks the first known case of HPAI in cattle in Washington state,” state officials said. Since March 2024 dairy cattle herds in 19 states have documented H5N1 infections, including neighboring Idaho.  

2 farms under quarantine 

“Washington State Department of Agriculture conducted on-farm investigations, testing, and gathered additional epidemiological information to better understand this detection and limit further disease spread,” officials said. “The two farms are under quarantine and have employed strict biosecurity measures. Veterinarians are working to treat sick cows.”

Veterinarians are working to treat sick cows.

In the past 30 days four dairy herds have had H5N1 detections, including herds in Kansas and Texas. So far in 2026, US officials have confirmed avian flu in 93 dairy herds, compared to 917 in 2024 and 171 last year. 

“We appreciate how difficult this is for our dairy families, farmworkers, and veterinarians that are working hard to keep animals safe and healthy,” said Washington State Veterinarian Amber Itle, VMD. “The most important thing you can do is implement enhanced biosecurity and report symptoms immediately if animals show signs of illness.”

Unannounced drills to assess healthcare facility readiness to manage infectious disease outbreaks in three areas of the United States revealed variable adherence to containment protocols, according to a new study published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 

Using a simulated avian flu scenario involving an A(H5) strain with professional actors as patients, local and national public health authorities conducted 73 drills in 69 emergency departments, urgent care centers, and outpatient clinics in New Jersey, New York, and the US Virgin Islands from January to June 2026. The aim was to assess facilities’ ability to rapidly identify and isolate patients with suspected high-consequence infectious diseases.

“Successive recent outbreaks of viral hemorrhagic fevers, novel coronaviruses (e.g., COVID-19), monkeypox [mpox] virus disease, measles, and avian influenza A(H5) have reinforced the importance of rapidly recognizing and safely managing patients with potentially severe transmissible infections at health care facility points of entry, to protect health care workers, patients, and surrounding communities,” the authors wrote.

Median time to isolation 1 minute shy of goal

Facilities conducted symptom screening in 93.2% of the drills, documented travel history on patient arrival in 79.5%, and asked about exposure to avian flu in 9.6%. In 82.2% of drills during which the patient was appropriately masked, the median time from arrival to masking was two minutes, one minute short of the target.

Findings identified opportunities to support these outpatient settings in implementing more robust screening, isolation and notification processes, and IPC training.

Of 71.2% of drills that included patient isolation, the median time to isolation was 11 minutes, one minute shy of the 10-minute goal. A combination of masking and isolation took place in 60.3% of exercises. Patient actors were identified as being at risk for avian flu in 63.4% of cases.

Infection prevention-and-control (IPC) teams were notified or scheduled to be notified in 54.8% of drills, and staff wore all recommended personal protective equipment (PPE) in just 25.0% but wore none in 5.9%.

“These drills identified needs for health care workers and health care facility staff member training to achieve earlier identification, masking, and isolation of potentially infectious febrile patients,” the researchers wrote. “Findings identified opportunities to support these outpatient settings in implementing more robust screening, isolation and notification processes, and IPC training.”