A new strain of avian influenza has shown up in milk samples from Nevada, reports the United States Department of Agriculture.
This second strain was the predominant genotype among wild birds this past fall and winter and has also been found in poultry, the U.S.D.A. said.
“We’re seeing the H5N1 virus itself be smarter than all of us,” said Beth Thompson, South Dakota’s state veterinarian.
“It’s modifying itself so it’s not just staying in the poultry and the wild waterfowl. It’s picking up a home in the mammals.”
Wild birds likely transmitted the second strain to cattle in Nevada, said J.J. Goicoechea, Nevada’s agriculture director.
