Bird flu detected in Phoenix-area dairy cattle milk

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Health officials have confirmed that bird flu was detected in milk from a cattle herd at a Phoenix-area dairy facility.

In a news release posted on Friday, the Arizona Department of Agriculture (AZDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the state’s first identified H5N1 avian influenza in milk from a dairy herd. The case was confirmed on Tuesday.

Officials didn’t identify the facility but confirmed it’s in Maricopa County and currently under quarantine as a precaution.

None of the affected cattle have shown signs of illness, but if that changes, they will be isolated from the main herd.

The case was discovered through the AZDA’s National Milk Testing Strategy, which began in January.

Since then, every dairy in the state has been tested at least once.

Health officials say this specific genotype has no features that would make it more likely to infect humans and that there’s low risk to the general public. They added that milk and other dairy products that have been pasteurized are safe to consume.

AZDA is working with the Arizona Department of Health Services and the Maricopa County Department of Public Health to monitor staff, provide safety guidance and prevent the bird flu from spreading to other animals at the quarantined dairy.

This the first case in Arizona and came on the same day Sen. Mark Kelly took a tour of a dairy facility in Tempe.

“I want to make sure people understand that does not affect the dairy supply because all this stuff is pasteurized. So it’s not in any product, it just affects the cow,” said Kelly.

With cases of bird flu rising, eggs have already become pricier and harder to find.

Now, people are raising concerns about the milk supply.

“There has been a time in California where dairy cows got sick with the flu and then they produce less milk. When they produce less milk, that means the supply of milk has gone down and prices generally go up,” he explained.

Between the bird flu and the potential for tariffs, Kelly, a Democrat, criticized the Trump Administration for its handling of the situation so far.

“I haven’t seen a plan out of the White House on this. I mean, Donald Trump ran on bringing costs down,” he said.

Over the past few months, avian influenza has been confirmed in dozens of birds, including five animals that died at a Phoenix-area zoo. Two people also tested positive after working with infected poultry at a plant in Pinal County.

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.

Copyright 2025 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.