Cows in California are dying of bird flu at a much faster rate than cattle in other states impacted by the virus - and the situation is rapidly becoming out of control. Distressing images circulating on social media show dead cows rotting in the sun as the number of deaths begins to overwhelm dairy farms. This poses an additional risk of the disease spreading as carcasses left in the open may be picked apart by scavengers, facilitating the spread to other birds or wild animals.
Hezbollah announces 'new and escalating phase' of Israel conflict California police struggle with 'unusable' Tesla patrol cars after going green It also means the carcasses may degrade to the point where they can no longer be processed for rendering - the process of using heat to convert dead animals into safe, pathogen-free feed protein. Bird flu has been reported in cattle across 14 different states, with 324 herds affected in total. Of these, 124 are in California , making it by far the worst-hit state.
California , also the top milk producing state, is witnessing mortality rates as high as 20 percent - a significant difference to the two percent rates in other states. Tulare County, in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley, is experiencing a large number of recent cases, including 11 infections in humans since October 3. All of the individuals — working at nine different farms — had direct contact with infected cattle.
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