(New York Times) – Officials have discovered the virus in 645 herds of dairy cattle, more than in any other state so far.

Gov. Gavin Newsom of California declared on Wednesday that the outbreak of bird flu among the state’s dairy cattle constituted an emergency, a stark acknowledgment of the increasing seriousness of the contagion’s spread.

California was not among the first states to detect the bird flu virus, H5N1, in dairy cattle. But since the first identification of an infected herd in late August, the state’s agriculture department has found the virus in 645 dairies, about half of them in the past 30 days alone. (Read More)