‘Shocking’: Bird-Flu Infected Cattle Dumped at California Roadside

Footage obtained by Newsweek from a California veterinarian shows dead dairy cows infected with avian influenza piled by the roadside without any biosecurity measures or warning signs.
The vet fears the dead animals could further spread the H5 bird flu outbreak which continues to ravage California cattle farms, with 100 herds affected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The videos, captured on Oct. 8 by veterinarian Crystal Heather, shows the pile of deceased dairy cows outside Mendonsa Farms, just south of Tulare, California.
These cows, confirmed to have been infected with avian influenza (H5N1), were left exposed without any warning signs or biosecurity precautions. The footage was deemed too graphic for publication.
“What was so shocking was that there was so little signage around anywhere telling the public about avian influenza and warning them of the biosecurity risks,” Heather told Newsweek.
“I’m worried that wildlife could come into contact with them. We know that cats are susceptible to avian influenza; the first sign that a farm has an infection is often when cats end up dying after they’ve drunk raw milk.”
Anja Raudabaugh, CEO of Western United Dairies—the trade organization representing Mendonsa Farms—confirmed that the dead cattle had succumbed to bird flu.
“These cattle have passed away from avian influenza under quarantine procedures. They must be removed from the healthy herd and separated,” Raudabaugh told Newsweek, acknowledging that the handling of the carcasses in this case was not standard practice.
Raudabaugh added, “There are so many cattle passing away from avian influenza that the rendering trucks are backed up, which is why [the cattle] had been left there for a period of time.”
She called for more resources to help deal with the outbreak. “We are desperately overwhelmed at this point.”
Heather also captured footage of more cow carcasses left exposed outside another nearby farm.
“These bodies just being left out there is concerning,” Heather said. “It wasn’t hard to stumble across these cows, and given now there’s now 100 farms affected and we’re seeing a higher rate of mortality in these cows in California[…]you can only imagine how many bodies there could be.”
In addition to her veterinary work, Heather serves as the executive director of Our Honor, a nonprofit advocating for better biosecurity measures, including mandatory milk testing, public awareness campaigns, and flu vaccinations for workers to prevent coinfections with H5N1 and seasonal flu.
On Oct. 9, the CDC confirmed a third human case of H5 bird flu in California, all linked to exposure to infected dairy cows. The three cases occurred in workers from different farms with no known contact, suggesting cow-to-human transmission, the CDC said.
“The current bird flu situation in the U.S. is quite disturbing and odd,” Jeremy Rossman, senior lecturer in virology at the University of Kent, U.K., previously told Newsweek following the announcement from the CDC that two human cases had been confirmed in California.
“I do not think they are doing a good job at containing the outbreak, and put simply, they are not containing the outbreak.
“The concern, of course is that ongoing transmission within cattle will allow the virus to mutate to a form that spreads well in the air between mammals. If that happens and the virus maintains a high case-fatality rate, as bird flu is known for, the result could be catastrophic.”
So far, no human-to-human transmission of bird flu has been detected, and infections have typically been mild.
“However, we just don’t know for certain right now, and the risks are considerable with insufficient action being taken to prevent this,” Rossman said.
To date, livestock outbreaks have affected 14 states, with 300 herds testing positive. California has been one of the hardest-hit, with 100 herds infected.
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