Bloomberg Dairy farmers in California are grappling with a steadily advancing outbreak of avian flu in their herds – a problem few of them want to talk about publicly, but that none of them can afford to ignore.
Bird flu has been reported in more than 170 herds in California since late August, with the state accounting for nearly half of all US cases detected in dairy cows since the outbreak began in March. One farmer, who asked not to be named to protect his privacy, said he watched this summer as the outbreak marched toward his farm in Fresno County, in the state’s Central Valley region. First, the virus was found at a dairy eight miles to the north. A week later, it surfaced four miles away, and then two miles.
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