The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today confirmed 62 more avian flu outbreaks in dairy cattle, all involving California herds. The latest detections lift the state's total since the end of August to 398 and the national total to 612.

California is the nation's largest dairy producer, and outbreaks in the Central Valley have now affected nearly one-third of the state's estimated 1,300 herds.

In poultry outbreaks developments, APHIS today also confirmed more poultry outbreaks from four states, including two more reappearances in Midwestern states.

The largest of the latest outbreaks includes a large layer farm in California's Kern County that has more than 1 million birds, as well as a duck meat producer in the state's Marin County.

Over the past several weeks, most the outbreaks in poultry have occurred in western states along with Pacific flyway, affecting several large commercial farms in California and reaching all the way to backyard birds in Hawaii. However, over the past few days, detections have been confirmed in a few Midwestern states.

Today's confirmations include a commercial farm in Illinois, which involves a facility in Henry County that has 5,600 birds. Henry County is in northwestern Illinois. The latest outbreak marks the state's first since February 2023. Also, APHIS confirmed the virus in a backyard flock of 20 birds in South Dakota, its first since March. The location is Lake County, which is the southwestern part of the state.

Elsewhere, APHIS confirmed the virus in a backyard flock in Alaska located in Matanuska Susitna Borough, which is part of the Anchorage metro area. The outbreak is the first involving Alaskan poultry since November 2023, though the virus was recently reported in a few samples from raptors and waterfowl.