Idaho Ties or Takes the State Case Lead (25 or 26)
7 new H5N1 infected dairy herds in Idaho reported yesterday by USDA
Sharon Sanders of FluTrackers posted a tweet from Helen Braswell last night (bottom of linked page):
Helen maintains a running graph of H5N1 cases by state, based on both USDA totals and reports from states in cases where state web sites precede USDA reporting. Following yesterday’s USDA report, here is Helen’s graph:
The 7 new Idaho herds moved it ahead of Michigan as the leading case count state. The USDA line list shows 26 cases as Helen shows; however, 1 USDA case listed is the alpaca herd, so technically the correct count is 25 dairy herds on the USDA list, the same as Michigan.
The Idaho Department of Agriculture web site is apparently not up to date, as it shows 21 infected sites in 9 counties:
HPAI in Cattle | Idaho State Department of Agriculture
Affected facilities in Idaho by County:
Bonneville-1
Canyon-1
Cassia-7
Franklin-1
Jerome-4
Minidoka-1
Owyhee-1
Payette-1
Twin Falls-4
Total-21
Time will tell which counties are credited with the 4 additional cases. Regardless of actual case and county counts, the Idaho dairy industry is obviously struggling with H5N1. However, it is also stepping up to test symptomatic and/or at-risk cattle herds. As with Michigan, high case counts aren’t a mark of failure at this point; rather they are an indication of responsibility. Thanks, Idaho.
John