California
Q&A: How California, now an epicenter for bird flu in dairy cattle, is monitoring the virus
From the earliest days of the H5N1 bird flu outbreak in dairy cattle, experts watching the evolving situation have worried about California.
The Golden State has the country’s largest concentration of dairy farms, roughly 1,100 herds. The concern has been if the virus got into California, the prospects for spread would be huge and containment a challenge.
And, indeed, in the roughly five weeks since California’s first infected farms were confirmed, those fears have proved to have been well-founded. As of Monday, 82 farms have tested positive for H5N1, vaulting California over Colorado as the state with the most infected herds. By comparison, Colorado has counted 64 infected herds over the course of six months. (It should also be noted that California’s Department of Food and Agriculture is actively looking for affected herds; many other states are not.)
Infected cows could in turn infect people. California has already detected three human infections in workers who had exposure to infected cows. (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has yet to confirm the third case.)
STAT recently spoke to Erica Pan, California’s state epidemiologist, about what public health officials are doing to monitor for human H5N1 infections. The conversation, which took place before California announced its human cases, has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Has California been proactively looking for H5N1 infections among farmworkers and others, given the rapid rise in infected farms in the state?
Ever since March or April [when H5N1 in cows was first confirmed in the U.S.] we have been very actively watching and preparing and working with our California Department of Food and Ag. Typically, seasonal flu surveillance really decreases over the summer but we —like many other states — kept up our flu surveillance and sent out a health advisory to clinicians in California, saying: Please still test for flu, even though it’s summer. Please be asking these questions about animal exposures.
And then we were trying to reach goals of the numbers of flu specimens we would be subtyping of flu A, to confirm that the flu that is still circulating is seasonal flu and not H5N1. So we’ve been meeting our goals over the summer on that.
In addition, once we’ve had these positive herds in California, we’ve worked closely with our local health departments on the ground where these actual farms and premises are, who are then working with the farms and the farmworkers to monitor individuals who might be exposed and monitoring for symptoms. Really working to talk to the employees and the farmers about “This is a health check. The goal is not government monitoring. It is really to do a health check to make sure you are feeling well. And if you’re not, we can help get testing and treatment if needed.”
We, of course, had a lot of experience since 2022, when we had huge [H5N1] poultry outbreaks, so thankfully a lot of the local health departments at least had experience with that as well — acknowledging that dairy farmers are often different, though.
One of the things a lot of affected jurisdictions have had to grapple with is the fact that there’s been a fair amount of reluctance on the part of the farmers and farmworkers to interact with the public health side. Are you getting cooperation or are you facing suspicion and unwillingness to interact?
A lot of this work happens on the ground with our local health departments. And what we’re hearing from them is that it’s a big spectrum. There are definitely some farms that are the most collaborative and open and welcoming. And I think there are some that are challenging.
We’re working with some of the farmworker organizations, and I think we’re improving. I think local health departments are working more closely with their agricultural commissioners and some of these other worker organizations to really get more of their input and support — especially in areas where there may be more concern about what the role of public health is.
We are not only working on outreach and education around personal protective equipment but have distributed a lot. We’ve distributed over 300,000 respirator masks, gloves, goggles, and face shields to protect farmworkers from bird flu and have tried to offer that as well as a way to engage the workers and the worker organizations.
One of the things the CDC is also trying to do is get seasonal flu shots into farmworkers in states where it’s known that there have been outbreaks in cows. Is that happening at your level? Or is it happening at the local health department level?
Both. CDC did give us an additional allocation of CDC-funded seasonal flu vaccine for farmworkers. For our entire state, we’ve only gotten about 5,000 more doses. It’s not a huge amount. But it’s certainly helpful. So we are definitely working with the farms in the Central Valley where we have both the highest intensity of dairy farms and where our positives [herds] have been detected. And in general our local health departments are trying to figure out how to provide more influenza vaccinations in that community as well.
Five thousand doses? There are more than 1,000 dairies in California. Is that the only allocation you’re getting?
That’s the allocation that’s been associated with this bird flu H5N1 effort.
We have some state-funded vaccine that is for high-risk uninsured and underinsured people, which historically is distributed to the underinsured elderly living in congregate settings and other places. We typically do use all that vaccine in that high-risk population. So, yeah, I think we’re working on and thinking about other creative solutions, especially if there are workers in smaller farms, etc., that don’t have other health care access.
And it will be interesting to see what the uptake is [among farmworkers offered flu shots].
Do you have a sense of whether this is a population that takes flu shots normally?
I don’t offhand. I do know that in general only about half of people get a flu vaccination. So we have concerns that it may not be a population that typically has high uptake.
What about studies? There’s been a lot of interest in trying to test blood samples from farmworkers looking for antibodies to see if there have been more infections than have been detected. Is California trying to do that?
I think we’re learning from other states that have gone before us. And our understanding from Michigan, for example, is that it took them a little bit to develop these relationships, work with individuals to then get the engagement to do that. It’s still relatively early for us. It’s been about a month.
But we’re certainly interested and open to that and the CDC has indicated that they would absolutely support [that kind of work].
It is my understanding that some of the USDA resources that farms can apply for if they have been impacted also have inclusive language about collaborating with local public health and participating in CDC studies. So I think we do want to start to work on that soon. But I think right now, we’re really kind of working on just solidifying some of those relationships and working on encouraging overall health monitoring, health checks, etc.
How big an issue is raw milk in California and how worried are you about it in terms of people’s exposure to H5N1?
It definitely has been top of mind.
For a lot of the details you’ll have to refer to the California Department of Food and Ag. But they do regulate. There are a few raw dairy farms in California and they do regulate them at the state level. And they’ve been requiring testing — for several months at this point. Definitely before we had these other commercial detections.
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As the nation prepares for its 250th Independence Day celebration, a decades-long California Fourth of July fireworks tradition that has raised millions for local children’s programs is going dark this year after the California Coastal Commission rejected a final effort to keep it alive, citing environmental concerns to protect the bay.
“We’ve raised over the past 14 years $2 million for kids programs here in Long Beach,” event organizer John Morris told Fox News Digital, adding the July 3 event is fully funded by the local community.
“This community pays for everything — everything. City fees, and the city doesn’t give us a break. We pay $20,000 to the city for police and fire, which I’m fine with, because there’s 100,000 people enjoying the fireworks,” said Morris, a Long Beach resident and business owner.
Morris, who owns the Boathouse on the Bay restaurant, had planned a scaled-up fireworks display this year to mark America’s 250th Independence Day.
CALIFORNIA BEACH TOWN BANS THE USE OF BALLOONS
Long Beach residents have enjoyed the fireworks organized by John Morris for over a decade. (Scott Varley/MediaNews Group/Torrance Daily Breeze via Getty Images)
In January, Coastal Commission staff rejected the proposal, and last week commissioners unanimously upheld that decision despite an appeal backed by local, state and federal officials.
Regulators warned Morris last year that 2025 would likely be the final year for fireworks at the event, as they continue pushing organizers to switch to drone shows they say are more environmentally friendly.
The decision stands in contrast to other approvals by the commission, including a permit granted to SeaWorld allowing up to 40 nights of fireworks.
“They get 40 nights in Mission Bay. All I’m asking for is 20 minutes — it doesn’t make any sense,” Morris said.
Morris, 78, also pushed back on the environmental concerns cited by the commission, pointing to years of testing around the event.
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Due to the lack of fireworks, Morris has decided to cancel the July 3rd celebration.
“We’ve had 10 years of environmental studies,” Morris said. “We test the water before and after the fireworks and send a robotic camera into the bay to check for debris — there’s never been any. It’s been spotless.
“We’ve also had eight years of bird reports to make sure we’re not harming wildlife. We’ve never had an issue. We’ve never been written up one time. So what is it really about?”
Joshua Smith, a spokesman for the California Coastal Commission, told Fox News Digital that permits are determined on a case-by-case basis, citing environmental concerns to “protect the bay.”
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Organizer John Morris said environmental studies are regularly conducted to measure the impact of the fireworks show on the bay. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Smith said Morris was approved for a permit to hold a drone show in lieu of fireworks. Morris told Fox News Digital such a show would cost about $200,000 — roughly four times more than traditional fireworks.
Smith confirmed that SeaWorld received a permit allowing 40 nights of fireworks. When pressed on the discrepancy, he reiterated that decisions are made individually and declined to provide further details.
Morris said the loss of the fireworks show will be felt across the community, from local businesses to families who have made the event an annual tradition.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — In the wide-open race for California governor, billionaire Tom Steyer is on a spending binge.
The hedge fund manager-turned-liberal activist is using his personal fortune to saturate TV screens and mobile phones with advertising, while his competitors accuse him of trying to use his vast wealth to buy the state’s most powerful job.
Steyer’s ads — in which he promises to bring down household costs or rails against federal immigration raids — appear inescapable at times in heavily Democratic Los Angeles, the state’s largest media market. Data compiled by advertising tracker AdImpact show Steyer has spent or booked over $115 million in ads for broadcast TV, cable and radio — nearly 30 times the amount of his nearest Democratic rival.
If he makes it through the June 2 primary election, Steyer could easily eclipse the 2010 record set by Republican Meg Whitman, who spent $178.5 million in a losing bid for governor, much of it her own money. At the time, it was the costliest campaign for statewide office in the nation’s history.
Even when ad buys from all his major competitors are combined, along with ad purchases by independent committees supporting candidates, Steyer is outspending the field by tens of millions of dollars.
“Billionaire money is flooding our state in an attempt to buy this election,” former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, one of Steyer’s chief rivals, warned her supporters this month.
Mail-in ballots are set to go out to voters next month. Steyer is among a crowd of candidates hoping to seize a spotlight after former Democratic U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell’s dramatic departure from the race following sexual assault allegations that he denies.
But while Steyer has ticked up in polling amid his spending splurge, he has not broken away from the field, leaving some wondering if he’s getting value for his dollars.
“If your first round of ads doesn’t move you dramatically (in the polls), the third, fourth, fifth, six, seventh and eighth rounds won’t either,” said veteran Democratic strategist Bill Carrick, who for years advised the late Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein. “There is something inherently holding Steyer back.”
In recent prior campaigns for governor, at this stage a leading candidate was taking control of the race. This year, voters appear to be shrugging at a contest that lacks a star candidate among seven leading Democrats and two Republicans.
“Somehow the campaign is frozen,” Carrick added.
History shows that money doesn’t always translate into votes.
Billionaire developer Rick Caruso spent over $100 million in 2022 in his bid to become Los Angeles mayor, much of it his own money, but he was handily defeated by Mayor Karen Bass, who spent a fraction of Caruso’s total. Billionaire former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg spent more than $1 billion of his own money on his 2020 presidential bid before dropping out. And Steyer’s money was unable to lift him into contention in the 2020 presidential contest, when he dropped out early in the year after a poor finish in the South Carolina primary.
Steyer has never held elected office.
In a 2019 interview with The Associated Press, Steyer was asked what he would say to people who think he’s trying to buy the presidency.
“I don’t think that’s possible,” Steyer said at the time, before adding, “I’m never going to apologize for succeeding in business. That’s America, right?”
His campaign did not respond directly when asked about similar criticism facing his run for governor.
“Tom now stands as the only Democrat with the grassroots energy, institutional backing and resources to advance to the general election,” spokesperson Kevin Liao said in a statement.
The governor’s race was recently reordered by two developments: Swalwell, a leading Democrat, abruptly withdrew from the race then resigned from Congress, following sexual assault allegations. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump endorsed conservative commentator Steve Hilton.
Still, there is no clear leader.
Polling in late March and early April by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California found a cluster of candidates in close competition: Democrats Steyer and Porter, Republicans Hilton and Chad Bianco, and Swalwell. Other candidates were trailing. The polling was conducted before Swalwell withdrew.
Democrats have feared the party’s large number of candidates could lead to them getting shut out of the general election in November. That’s because California has a primary system in which only the top two vote-getters advance to the general election, regardless of party.
Leading Democrats are all claiming to have picked up support since Swalwell’s exit. Steyer nabbed one plum endorsement, when the influential California Teachers Association, which previously backed Swalwell, recommended him.
In his ads, Steyer promises to “abolish” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which has been staging raids across California. In another, he laments the state’s punishing cost of housing, “Everybody needs an affordable place to live,” he says.
Rapper was stabbed 16 times by fellow inmate in May 2025 while 10-year sentence in Megan Thee Stallion shooting case
Tory Lanez has filed a $100 million lawsuit against the California Department of Corrections stemming from a May 2025 incident where the rapper was stabbed in prison.
Lanez — born Daystar Peterson and currently serving a 10-year sentence after being found guilty in the Megan Thee Stallion shooting case — also sued the warden and guards at the California Correctional Institute in Tehachapi, where the rapper was stabbed 16 times in an “unprovoked life-threatening attack” by another inmate, the lawsuit states.
Peterson was hospitalized following the May 2025 incident, suffering a collapsed lung among stab wounds to his back, torso, and head.
According to the Associated Press, the lawsuit criticized the Department of Corrections for housing Peterson with fellow inmate and alleged attacker Santino Casio, who was serving a life sentence for second-degree murder. “The choice to house Casio with Peterson was known or should have been a known danger,” the lawsuit said, adding that Tory Lanez’ “high-profile celebrity status” made him a target.
The lawsuit also said that prison guards were slow to respond to the shanking, and didn’t employ flash grenades or other measures to halt Casio’s attack.; Casio was not charged for stabbing Peterson, the Associated Press notes.
Lanez, who following his hospitalization was transferred to San Luis Obispo County’s California Men’s Colony, also alleges in the lawsuit that he never received his possessions from the California Correctional Institute in Tehachapi, including songbooks filled with lyrics to his unreleased music.
Lanez is serving a 10-year prison sentence for shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the foot during a confrontation in the summer of 2020. He was eventually convicted on several firearms charges, including assault with a firearm, in December 2022. In November 2025, his appeal was denied by a three-judge panel, and the 10-year sentence was upheld.
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