Livestock at a number of dairy farms throughout the U.S. have examined optimistic for hen flu — also called extremely pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI — in an outbreak that’s probably unfold to no less than 5 states.

The U.S. Division of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Well being Inspection Service confirmed Friday that cows in Texas, Kansas and Michigan had been sickened by the virus, and there have been presumptive optimistic check outcomes for extra herds in New Mexico and Idaho.

It’s the first time the illness has been present in dairy cattle, in response to the American Veterinary Medical Affiliation.

The instances come simply days after a bunch of younger goats contracted hen flu on a Minnesota farm.

Bird flu infects the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts of birds and is commonly deadly to avian populations. It could possibly unfold from wild birds to business poultry and yard flocks in addition to terrestrial and marine mammals and people.

Authorities officers say the chance to the general public amid the present outbreak stays low. Most previous human infections have occurred after individuals had “unprotected exposures to sick or lifeless contaminated poultry,” according to the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention. And officers say the pressure of the virus detected in Michigan is just like the one present in Texas and Kansas, which was proven by way of preliminary testing to not embody any modifications that may make it extra transmissible to people.