Officials had been greatly puzzled by a "mystery disease" that has been making dairy cattle in Texas, Kansas and New Mexico very sluggish and has been causing them to produce much less milk.  So they decided to do some testing, and we now have the results.  It turns out that the mystery illness is actually "the same strain of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) that's been in the U.S. for two years"…

A mystery illness that's impacted dairy herds in the Texas Panhandle, New Mexico and Kansas now has a diagnosis: Influenza A. USDA says genetic sequencing revealed it's the same strain of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) that's been in the U.S. for two years.

APHIS says the "National Veterinary Services Laboratories" detected Influenza "A" in samples from several impacted herds in Texas, Kansas and New Mexico. The virus is carried by wild waterfowl, which experts think is how the illness is spreading.

The experts did not think that bird flu would be a threat to dairy cattle.

Unfortunately, the experts were wrong.

Scientists were able to confirm the presence of the bird flu by testing samples of milk from sick cows…

According to USDA, as of March 25, unpasteurized, clinical samples of milk from sick cattle collected from two dairy farms in Kansas and one in Texas, as well as an oropharyngeal swab from another dairy in Texas, have tested positive for the virus.

Now that bird flu has been identified as the culprit, dairy farmers are being urged to strictly implement "all standard biosecurity measures"…

Officials are strongly advising dairy producers to use all standard biosecurity measures. They note it's important for producers to clean and disinfect all livestock watering devices and isolate drinking water where it might be contaminated by waterfowl. Farmers are also being asked to notify their herd veterinarian if they suspect any cattle within their herd are displaying symptoms of this condition.