Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a State of Emergency in California to address the spread of Avian influenza A (H5N1), commonly known as Bird Flu. This decision aims to enhance the state’s preparedness and accelerate response efforts as cases have been detected in dairy cows on farms in Southern California. The virus has spread across 16 states among dairy cattle since its first detection in Texas and Kansas earlier this year.
Currently, there is no evidence of person-to-person transmission of Bird Flu in California. Most infected individuals had exposure to infected cattle. The state has established a comprehensive testing and monitoring system, which is the largest in the nation, to manage the outbreak.
The emergency proclamation allows for increased flexibility around staffing, contracting, and other regulations to support the state’s response. Governor Newsom stated, “This proclamation is a targeted action to ensure government agencies have the resources and flexibility they need to respond quickly to this outbreak.”
California’s cross-agency response involves local, state, and federal expertise aimed at minimizing farm worker exposures and reducing contamination risks. Public awareness campaigns are underway through coordinated efforts between various state departments such as CDPH, CDFA, CalOES, and others. These efforts include multilingual outreach, social media initiatives promoting preventive practices, online resources for public information, and ensuring agriculture workers receive additional flu vaccines from the CDC.
The state’s collaboration with federal agencies like the CDC, FDA, USDA, along with local health officials ensures comprehensive surveillance and investigation of potential Bird Flu cases.
Bird Flu was initially detected in wild birds in South Carolina in January 2022 and later found in California’s wild bird population by July 2022. An outbreak among dairy cows was reported on March 25th this year starting from Texas and Kansas. Since then, there have been confirmed human infections across seven states including 34 cases reported within California alone.
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