Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press Cows mill about in at this Jerome, Idaho, dairy. Dairymen with the National Family Farm Coalition are asking producers to unite to get a milk pricing formula that includes cost of production in the Senate farm bill.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI, has been found in cattle at an Idaho dairy farm in Cassia County, the state Department of Agriculture reports.

The dairy had recently brought in 105 cattle from Texas, where HPAI has been confirmed in dairy cattle, said Dr. Scott Leibsle, Idaho’s state veterinarian.

As of March 28, those imported cattle were not showing signs of illness. But the timing of the cows’ arrival on the farm and when resident cows were diagnosed with HPAI suggests the virus might have been transmitted from cow to cow, he said.

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HPAI found at Idaho dairy farm

The department has quarantined the infected farm, and no cattle can enter or leave. The infected cattle are also separated from the rest of the herd.

The quarantine is to prevent the virus from traveling off the facility, Leibsle said.

HPAI was detected in eight cows, ranging from first lactation to third lactation, he said.

Texas connection

The dairy had imported cows from Texas on March 8 or 9, before the department ordered a full stop on imported cattle from Texas on March 15.

The department also put a stop order on cattle imports from Kansas and New Mexico on March 19.

Those imported cows were likely from a dairy where cows had not yet been diagnosed or showing symptoms. They were not commingled with the eight resident cows that tested positive, he said.

He’s not sure how the infection made it to the resident cows but suspects it was cow-to-cow transmission. Alternatively, it could have been transmitted through manure or milking equipment, he said.

The source could have also been wild waterfowl, but cow-to-cow transmission must be considered as a likely cause, he said.

The virus has been easily detected and concentrated in milk, as opposed to blood or urine, pointing to udder infection, he said.

At this time, the department is only testing cows on the affected dairy.

First case

This is the first case of HPAI in cattle in Idaho, he said.

The primary concern with the virus is production losses, as the disease has been associated with decreased milk production, he said.

The department is working with the facility to allow milk from other cows on the dairy to flow and help the dairy through the losses, he said.

USDA on Monday confirmed HPAI in two dairy herds each in Texas and Kansas.

On March 29, the agency confirmed the presence of HPAI in a Michigan dairy herd as well as presumptive positive test results in New Mexico and Texas.