A duck farm in California is the site of the United States’ first case of H5N9 bird flu, World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) reported.
Officials also identified the more common subtype of H5N1 bird flu on the same farm in Merced County. By Dec. 2, nearly 119,000 birds at the farm had been killed to prevent the further spread.
Bird flu, or Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), has circulated globally in recent years. It has killed millions of birds and infected numerous mammals, including dairy cows in the U.S. It also resulted in one human death in Louisiana.
The H5N1 strain has wreaked the most havoc worldwide, while H5N9 is much less common. It was the first time H5N9 was detected in U.S. poultry.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is cooperating with state and wildlife officials to investigate and monitor the outbreak.
