Avian flu first made the jump from birds into dairy cows on farms in a number of US states in spring 2024. Until now, all such cases of the H5N1 virus have been ascribed to a genotype called B3.13, but the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has just announced the detection of a second genotype,

Experts said the discovery raises questions about how widely the virus has spread, and underscores the difficulty of controlling infections among animals and people working with them. View on euronews

The United States has reported its first H5N9 bird flu outbreak in California, affecting almost 119,000 ducks. Both H5N9 and the more common H5N1 strains were found. The USDA is conducting investigations and enhanced surveillance,