On Apr. 2, 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed the detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in a dairy herd in Idaho. APHIS shared  that its National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa, was working to confirm presumptive positive test results from an Idaho herd.

This marked the first known case of HPAI in cattle in Idaho. To date, the USDA had confirmed the detection of HPAI in dairy herds in Texas (7) Kansas (2), Michigan (1), and New Mexico (1).

The NVSL is currently performing confirmatory tests on presumptive positive results from Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio and Texas. It is important to note that, while these samples are from cattle with at least some clinical signs in common with other cattle diagnosed with HPAI, the presence of HPAI should not be considered confirmed until the NVSL analysis is complete.