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Animal Health and Food Safety Services ● 1220 N Street ● Sacramento, California 95814 State of California Telephone: 916.900.5000 ● Fax: 916.900.5332 ● www.cdfa.ca.gov/ahfss Gavin Newsom, Governor September 15, 2024 Whereas Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza was detected in domestic livestock in California and confirmed by the National Veterinary Services Laboratory on August 30, 2024; Whereas HPAI is a disease that carries significant consequence and therefore has mandatory State, federal and international reporting requirements; Whereas HPAI can cause widespread illness in dairy animals and is easily transmitted between premises with potential to also impact domestic poultry; Whereas the strain of HPAI detected, while not currently considered a human health threat, has potential to mutate and become zoonotic if response is delayed and the virus circulates unchecked; Whereas HPAI detections have resulted in devastating outbreaks in California and U.S. poultry, in 2104/15 and more recently in 2022/23, costing the government over a billion dollars in emergency response costs and resulting in the death of approximately 70 million poultry; Whereas the detection of HPAI if not contained can infect additional commercial livestock operations with potential for infecting poultry operations, expanding international trade embargos on California; Whereas rapid detection and disease containment are critical to minimizing potentially catastrophic animal health and economic impacts to California and CDFA has initiated an emergency response using the incident command system and seven-day work weeks; I, Dr. Annette Jones, California State Veterinarian, declare a California Department of Food and Agriculture animal health emergency. Annette Jones, D.V.M. State Veterinarian