Bird Flu Spotted in Alpacas for First Time

WEDNESDAY, May 29, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Bird flu has been detected for the first time in alpacas, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced Tuesday.

The animals that tested positive were on a farm in Idaho where poultry that had tested positive for the H5N1 virus were culled in May. The alpacas tested positive on May 16, the USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) said in a news release.

The NVSL added that it "has confirmed that the viral genome sequence for these samples is the same sequence currently circulating in dairy cattle... which is consistent with sequences from the depopulated poultry on this premises."