SALEM, Ohio — A pig at a backyard farm in Oregon was found to have H5N1 bird flu, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Oct. 30. This is the first time the virus has been detected in swine in the U.S.
The farm in Crook County, Oregon had a mix of poultry and livestock that shared water sources, housing and equipment. Poultry at the farm tested positive for the bird flu, the Oregon Department announced on Oct. 25. The five pigs on the farm were tested for the bird flu out of an abundance of caution. The farm was quarantined and the pigs were euthanized so further testing could be done. Other animals on the farm, including sheep and goats, remain under surveillance.
U.S. agriculture officials said there’s no concern about the safety of the nation’s pork supply, but it does raise concerns about the virus spreading among humans.
Earlier this year, the bird flu made the jump to dairy cattle. Since March, there have been 442 confirmed cases of H5N1 bird flu in cows in 15 states, including one case in Ohio early on in the outbreak. This highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak, which began in February 2022, has impacted 105.2 million domestic birds in 1,196 commercial and backyard flocks in 48 states.
There have also been 44 confirmed cases in humans in the U.S. this year, all but one of which have been associated with exposure to bird-flu-infected poultry or cows. Symptoms in humans have been mild.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a Nov. 4 statement that person-to-person spread of the bird flu has not been identified yet. The CDC said that it’s always concerning when an influenza virus infects a new mammal species, especially when it impacts pigs. The 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic had swine origins. The risk to the general public remains low, but the agency is continuing to gather information.
Dairy impact
The USDA also announced Oct. 30 that it is expanding national surveillance for the bird flu on dairy farms. The USDA implemented a Federal Order in May requiring the testing of cattle before interstate movement to limit the virus’s spread to new states.
The new plan is to use a tiered approach in partnership with state veterinarians to collect milk samples to better assess where H5N1 is present on U.S. dairy farms. The USDA plans to first sample milk in bulk regionally, with additional testing at the farm level, if necessary, until herds in an area are determined to be virus-free. Implementation details and guidance documents will be available soon.
The National Milk Producers Federation said testing is being expanded because “current risk analyses indicate that expanded testing is crucial for identifying where the disease is present — and where it isn’t — to advance efforts toward eradication in U.S. dairy cattle.”
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has been at the forefront of proactive efforts to keep the state bird flu free The department is encouraging dairy herds to enroll in its voluntary Lactating Dairy Cow Health Monitoring Program, which does free weekly bulk tank or in-line milk sample testing at one of the state labs.
Cases in dairy cattle have been on the rise with more than a third of the overall cases since the outbreak began March being detected in the last 30 days. Of the 160 news cases in cows in the last month, 150 of them have been in California.
