California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Wednesday over bird flu infection in cattle herds in the state.
State health officials have now found bird flu infections in dairy cattle in at least 641 dairy farms. Infections on roughly half of the farms were identified within the last month.
The declaration is meant to surge more staff and resources to state agencies that are responding to the outbreak, through testing, quarantine efforts and PPE distribution for high-risk workers.
"This proclamation is a targeted action to ensure government agencies have the resources and flexibility they need to respond quickly to this outbreak," Gov. Newsom said in a statement on the new declaration. "While the risk to the public remains low, we will continue to take all necessary steps to prevent the spread of this virus."
The declaration follows the detection of bird flu on more dairy farms in Southern California. State health officials first identified bird flu in dairy cattle in August of 2024.
Bird flu has now infected dairy herds across 16 states.
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Federal health officials say there have been 61 cases of bird flu infection in humans, mostly among people who had close contact with dairy herds or farmed poultry. 34 of the reported cases were from California.
In December an individual in southwestern Louisiana became the first to be hospitalized with a severe case of bird flu, and also the first to be infected from exposure to sick birds in a residential setting.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission of bird flu. The agency says the overall risk to the U.S. public from the current outbreak remains low.
