Receive update and consider any actions needed to support response to COVID-19 and avian influenza. (No general fund impact) (Sullivan/Dr. Sisson) (Est. Time: 15 min)

Receive update and consider any actions needed to support response to COVID-19 and avian influenza.

California’s State of Emergency for COVID-19 ended in February 2023 and the Federal Public Health Emergency for COVID-19 ended in May 2023. Since that time, COVID-19 has continued to cause infections, hospitalizations, and deaths in Yolo County.

Since 2022, avian influenza, also known as bird flu or influenza A (H5N1), has been spreading in wild birds worldwide, including in Yolo County. After moving into commercial poultry and numerous mammalian species, avian influenza spread to U.S. dairy cows in spring 2024, and California dairy cows in late August 2024. Avian influenza has now been identified in humans and in retail raw milk in California, and has caused severe disease in a Canadian teenager and an older adult in Louisiana. While the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that the risk to the general public from bird flu is currently low, certain populations such as dairy and poultry workers are at higher risk, and the virus has pandemic potential.

Agriculture Commissioner, Health Council, local hospitals, local health care providers, long-term care facilities