(SRN NEWS/REUTERS)
*The Louisiana Department of Health said on Friday it has detected the first presumptive positive human case of H5N1 bird flu infection in the U.S. state. The individual is a resident of southwestern Louisiana and is currently hospitalized.
*The U.S. has issued a federal order mandating that the national milk supply be tested for bird flu, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told Reuters, as authorities seek to grapple with rapid spread of the virus among dairy herds. Bird flu has infected more than 500 dairy herds in top milk state California, and more than 700 nationwide since March, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, raising concerns of the impact to farmers and the milk supply as well as the risk to human health from ongoing spread.
*A California farm has expanded a recall of raw milk sold in stores and halted production after state health and agriculture officials found bird flu virus in more milk samples. Raw Farm, of Fresno, voluntarily recalled all whole milk and cream products from stores after tests found bird flu virus in “multiple” retail samples and dairy storage and bottling sites. The recall covers all Raw Farm milk and cream produced between Nov. 9 and Nov. 27.