Iowa officials have detected avian flu in cattle on two more Sioux County, Iowa, dairy farms. Successful Farming says that brings the total to eight in the last two weeks.
The Iowa Department of Agriculture says one of the affected herds has about 500 cattle, and the other is much smaller, with just 45 animals. Sioux County has the largest number of dairy cattle in any Iowa county, with 40 licensed dairies. That means approximately one-fifth of those herds in the county have been infected by HPAI. Cows almost always recover from the virus within two weeks.
The virus is often fatal for domestic birds and infected three Iowa poultry flocks this year, including a Sac County flock with 4.2 million egg-laying chickens in late May, as well as two turkey farms, one of which was affected last week. Entire flocks get culled to help keep the virus from spreading.