California dairy farms are buckling down after Governor Gavin Newsom issued a state of emergency in response to the spread of Avian Influenza, or Bird Flu. The virus is wreaking havoc on dairies and poultry farms in some parts of the state, although none reported on the Central Coast.
The virus was first found in Texas and Kansas in March. Since then, there have been 34 confirmed human cases across California.
At the Cal Poly Creamery, dairy operations manager Hank Devries is making sure employees and students working at the dairy keep everything clean.
“My milk tankers, my small local producers—they're not interacting with any other dairies besides us here at the dairy. Just for my students, my employees, I always require gloves,” Devries said.
As the name suggests, the virus is typically found in birds. In Monterey County, one farmer had to put down thousands of ducks and geese in November.
Newsom’s emergency order comes after several cases of Bird Flu were found at Southern California dairy farms, the first cases in the state outside the Central Valley.
Devries said he thinks the order came a little late, but he hopes it will help smaller, struggling dairies get the resources they need to deal with positive cases.
“It has not been that much of an issue here because we are so far away from the kind of at the center of the California dairy industry. But for all of my friends, family and you know, industry partners, I'm surprised it took this long for it to become, you know, this kind of an order for how many dairies and cows have been affected by this,” Devries said.
The New York Times reported that in the past four months, cows at nearly 650 dairies in California have tested positive for the illness. The virus can cause symptoms like congestion, fever, sore throat, fatigue, but health officials say the risk of contracting it remains low.
