The Stearns County detection is the first in a Minnesota dairy herd so far this year. The same 620-cow herd also tested positive last July. The first bird flu detection in Minnesota livestock involved a Benton County dairy herd last June.

The spread of H5N1 continues impacting dairy cattle across the country. At the start of the month, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture starting testing raw cow’s milk at more than 1,600 dairy farms statewide.