Bird Flu Confirmed In Another Gratiot County Dairy Herd

The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has announced the presence of avian influenza in a second dairy herd in Gratiot County.

It was first reported last Friday that the bird flu was detected in both Gratiot and Isabella County dairy herds. The new announcement came Wednesday after testing by the Michigan State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, with samples sent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Veterinary Services Laboratory for additional confirmatory testing.

MDARD has stressed the importance of enhanced biosecurity measures, creating an order for all dairy operations in Michigan to adopt those measures found in a “Determination of Extraordinary Emergency HPAI Risk Reduction and Response” order issued May 1. MDARD issued additional guidelines the following week to help producers enact the requirements.

Further steps to protect livestock and prevent the spread of the bird flu can be found at michigan.gov/mdard.