LOGAN, Utah — Several dairy facilities in northern Utah have confirmed cases of "highly pathogenic avian influenza," agriculture officials reported Wednesday.
The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food said the eight facilities with confirmed cases are in Cache County, although no specific facilities were named.
The UDAF said all dairies in the county were put under mandatory surveillance for HPAI last Wednesday, and samples were sent to a lab for testing.
The impacted dairies were placed on quarantine — which, according to the department, means "no movement of lactating cattle is permitted on or off affected facilities with the exception of cattle going direct to slaughter." The UDAF also said these dairies have been asked to put "biosecurity measures" in place to prevent the spread.
“At this time we don’t anticipate any major impacts on the food supply and the overall impacts to individual dairies are relatively minimal," State Veterinarian Dr. Daniel Christensen said. "This disease is not as harmful to dairy cattle as it is to poultry."
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration also reminds the public that this means the "highly pathogenic" nature of the disease has a "severe impact in birds, not necessarily in humans."
The UDAF also said that anyone who has frequent contact with dairy cattle and gets sick should contact their local health department.
