The Blubber

California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on Wednesday to "streamline and expedite the state's response" to the bird flu outbreak.

The declaration follows the detection of additional cases in dairy cows at farms in Southern California.

According to the Governor's Office, the emergency proclamation provides state and local agencies with more flexibility in areas such as staffing and contracting to address the outbreak.

So far, there is no confirmed evidence of person-to-person transmission of the virus. Nearly all cases in California have involved individuals who had direct contact with infected cattle.

Bird Flu in the U.S.

The bird flu was first detected in wild birds in South Carolina in January 2022 and appeared in California six months later.

In March, outbreaks were reported in dairy cows in Texas and Kansas. Since then, there have been 61 confirmed human cases of bird flu infection across seven states, with 34 of those cases reported in California.

By August, after being identified in 13 other states, bird flu was confirmed in a dairy cow in Central California.

On Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the first severe case of bird flu in the United States.

The patient, a person over 65 years old with underlying medical conditions, is currently in critical condition at a Louisiana hospital. Officials reported the individual is suffering from severe respiratory illness caused by the bird flu infection.