California officials have declared a state of emergency amid growing fears over avian influenza. The virus has swept through dairy herds across the state and caused sporadic cases in humans, with the first severe human bird flu case in the U.S. reported in Louisiana on Wednesday (Dec. 18).
In a statement released Dec. 18, Governor Gavin Newsom's office said that the action came "as cases were detected in dairy cows on farms in Southern California, signaling the need to further expand monitoring and build on the coordinated statewide approach to contain and mitigate the spread of the virus."
