California Gov. Gavin Newsom declares state of emergency over bird flu, calls it a “proactive action”

California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an emergency proclamation Wednesday in response to growing concern about bird flu cases in the state and nationwide.

The emergency declaration comes after several cases of bird flu were discovered in Southern California dairy cows, the governor’s office said. Wednesday also saw the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report the first serious illness in a person due to bird flu from a case in Louisiana.

“This proclamation is a targeted action to ensure that state agencies have the resources and flexibility they need to respond quickly to this outbreak,” Newsom said in a statement.

As health and public officials note, so far there have been no recorded cases of person-to-person spread of bird flu in California or elsewhere.

Still, the CDC across the United States has recorded a total of 61 human cases of bird flu in 16 states so far — with more than half of those cases, 34, in California.

Although not linked to any known case in humans, a raw milk dairy in California issued a voluntary recall earlier in December after bird flu was detected in a batch.

Newsom also noted that California has already implemented efforts to combat bird flu by working with dairy and poultry farms to minimize exposure of farm workers. Many of the confirmed cases of bird flu are linked to dairy and poultry workers, health authorities have said.

“While the risk to the public remains low, we will continue to take all necessary steps to prevent the spread of this virus,” Newsom said in a statement.

As with other emergency declarations, Newsom noted that the action will open up funding for state and local agencies to respond to the bird flu situation.

California was not the first state to declare a bird flu emergency. Earlier in 2024, Colorado Governor Jared Polis issued an emergency declaration for Weld County due to an eruption there.

The current bird flu outbreak started in 2022. Since then, officials say more than 100 million birds have been killed by poultry farms to try to slow the spread of the disease.