Four alpacas in a small Idaho herd were infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus — the first known infection of alpacas in the world, said the Agriculture Department on Tuesday. The alpacas were on the same backyard farm that culled its poultry earlier this month due to an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).
Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control said genomic sequencing found the H5N1 virus continues to “lack changes that would make (it) better adapted to infect or transmit between humans.” For its tests, the CDC compared samples of the virus taken from cows and from two dairy workers. The samples, collected over several weeks, “maintain primarily avian genetic characteristics.”
The USDA also reported four additional cases of bird flu in dairy cattle, in Idaho, Michigan, Texas, and South Dakota. To date, the H5N1 virus has been found in 67 herds of livestock, including the alpacas, in nine states since late March.
USDA scientists said the virus found in the alpacas “is the same (genomic) sequence currently circulating in dairy cattle, which is consistent with sequences from the depopulated poultry on this premises” in Jerome County in south-central Idaho, about 120 miles southeast of the state capital of Boise.
“While this HPAI confirmation is not unexpected due to the previous HPAI detection on the premises, the high amount of virus in the environment, and comingling of multiple livestock species on-farm, it is the first HPAI detection in alpacas,” said the USDA.
In a report to the World Organization for Animal Health, the USDA said the infected alpacas were part of a herd of 18 “domestic alpacas with close contact to HPAI-infected birds on an HPAI-infected backyard” farm. The USDA confirmed bird flu on May 16, almost a week after the outbreak began.
A USDA database says two HPAI outbreaks among birds were reported in Jerome County on May 10.
Some 92.3 million birds in domestic flocks, mostly egg-laying chickens and turkeys being raised for human consumption, have died of HPAI or been culled to prevent spread of the virus since U.S. outbreaks began in February 2022. A week ago, bird flu was confirmed on an egg farm in Meeker County, Minnesota, about 65 miles west of Minneapolis.
Alpacas originated in marshy, mountainous regions of South America and are members of the camel family. They are about three feet tall at the shoulder and weigh 120-145 pounds. Alpacas are smaller than llamas, with long legs, long necks, and large pointed ears. They are prized for their lightweight, strong, and lustrous fleece.