Bird flu remains a growing problem across the U.S. — so far, it’s been responsible for 150 million bird fatalities, as well as one human death last year. The latter was caused by the newer D1.1 genotype, which scientists say contains a mutation that allows it to spread more easily between mammals.
That genotype was confirmed to be present among dairy cows in Nevada on January 31, making the Silver State the only place in the nation it’s been found outside of birds or people.
Those cows, which number around 15,000 total, are now being quarantined to stop the spread of the virus to other herds. They join the roughly 22,000 cows still in quarantine from an earlier outbreak of the B3.13 genotype in December. Taken together, those numbers represent about 79 percent of the state’s total dairy cow population.
Fast forward to February 10, and the Central Nevada Health District confirmed the state’s first human case — a dairy worker who was in close contact with D1.1-positive cows, and is now fully recovered.
This is despite the Nevada Department of Agriculture’s containment efforts, which have included widespread culls of invasive wild birds, like starlings, who give H5N1 to cattle.
The Department’s director, J.J. Goicoechea, says the agency is concerned, but not surprised, by the new spillover event.
“We had hoped we could get this in a corner across the country and let it burn out in our dairy cows,” said Goicoechea. “We are not seeing any reinfection to date of these dairy cows that we can document. Once it goes through the herd and they recover, we're not seeing a second infection. We don't know what that's going to look like now, with D1.1, so that is our concern.”
The good news, he notes, is that milk supply isn’t likely to be affected by H5N1 infections, unlike eggs, which have become more expensive and harder to come by.
The state, however, is on that too. On February 13, Governor Joe Lombardo signed into a law a bill that was unanimously passed just nine days into the 2025 legislative session. The new law will allow Nevada’s quarantine officer to remove cage-free restrictions on eggs sold in Nevada, when faced with shortages caused by diseases like bird flu.
Goicoechea is hopeful this new legislation will increase egg availability sometime within the next month.
“There are a lot of U.S. states in the West that are cage free,” he says, “and so we're trying to source those eggs from the exact same place that our neighbors are, and there just aren't enough of them. So, this bill is going to go a long ways in helping us get those eggs from farther in the Midwest back towards the Southeast, where there are more eggs raised in the conventional style.”
Ultimately, Goicoechea says the state government is hoping to have H5N1 contained, and in the rearview mirror, by the end of the year.
“Our goal is to have this, by summertime, burned out here in Northern Nevada. And if we are successful in keeping it here, then by fall, we hope to have this behind us.”
Until then, Goicoechea reassures consumers that the dairy, egg, and meat products currently on grocery shelves are still safe to eat.
Any birds found to be sick should be immediately quarantined and reported to the USDA at 866-536-7593 or the NDA by emailing NDA State Veterinarian at diseasereporting@agri.nv.gov.
Three or more wild bird mortalities should be reported to the Nevada Department of Wildlife at 775-688-1500 or nate.lahue@ndow.org.
Bird flu information — Nevada DoA
Bird flu detailed information — CDC
Bird flu illness information — Cleveland Clinic
Guest: J.J. Goicoechea, director, Nevada Department of Agriculture
