New Mexico

No new detections of avian flu in New Mexico cows, poultry, people despite rising U.S. cases • Source New Mexico

Published

12 months ago

November 28, 2024

No new detections of avian flu in New Mexico cows, poultry, people despite rising U.S. cases • Source New Mexico

Bird flu is increasing the cost of what’s on people’s table this Thanksgiving, as deaths of millions of poultry in recent weeks have driven up egg prices and dropped turkey populations to the lowest level in nearly 40 years.

More than 90 million poultry – mostly chickens and turkeys – have been euthanized or infected with avian influenza in the United States. The deaths sharply drove up prices of poultry meat in 2022, which have only slightly abated this year.

Much of California, including some of the country’s largest egg layers, has seen increased infections from the migration of wild birds.Egg prices in California have nearly doubled in a month, as flocks get smaller and can’t keep up with demand.

New Mexico health and veterinary officials said avian influenza has not been detected in state dairy herds or poultry farms since August. Nor has anyone in the state tested positive, even as cases and concerns rise amid the ongoing outbreak elsewhere.

New Mexico was among the first of 15 states currently experiencing the avian flu crossover infections in dairy cows. Infections have spread to nearly 500 dairy herds this year, including top milk producers in California, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

But national experts said the U.S. is failing to keep track of the spread of the disease, because it has a less robust effort to track public health compared to other developed countries.

Instead, the U.S. relies on a patchwork of local health systems that don’t always have the funding for tracking emerging diseases, said Amira Roess, a professor of global health at George Mason University.

“It is hard to comment on whether or not (Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza) infections are truly rare, given that we do not have active surveillance programs,” Roess said.

What is avian influenza?

Avian influenza is a family of viruses that usually impacts wild and domestic birds. Previously, people and other animals would only be sickened by coming into direct contact with sickened birds or carcasses.

In recent years, the H5N1 variant has “spilled” over into other species and has been devastating for marine mammal populations. Infectious disease researchers said the virus’ ability to adapt to different hosts and change its genetic code increases its pandemic potential.

Currently, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that person-to-person transmission of avian flu is not occurring, and that the risk to the general population is low but much higher for people in contact with poultry or other animals.

Dr. Samantha Holeck, the state veterinarian, said there have been no presumptive cases in New Mexico cows since August, keeping the number of infected New Mexico herds to 9.

Avian flu infections have been limited to Curry and Roosevelt counties, and include a poultry facility in addition to the dairies. There’s no further information about the number of animals impacted, state officials said.

In an emailed statement, Holeck said no deaths in New Mexico dairy herds have been “directly attributed to H5N1.”

It’s a different story for dairy herds in California. Instead of about a 2% mortality rate seen in other states from avian influenza, infected California herds had death rates of 15-20% preventing farmers’ ability to remove the carcasses and fueling further infection concerns.

Infections in humans are increasing

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 55 people have been infected, including 28 cases in California. People experiencing avian flu reported eye infections – officially called conjunctivitis – and others had flu-like symptoms including chills, coughing, fever, sore throat and runny nose.

Here’s what to watch for avian flu symptoms in backyard flocks and other domestic animals

In New Mexico, only seven people have been tested for avian flu though November. All were negative, said David Morgan, a spokesperson for the New Mexico Department of Health.

New Mexico health officials have only tested symptomatic people, following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines released in April when the outbreak started. Only in early November did the CDC update its policies to test all farmworkers who come into contact with animals with bird flu, regardless if they’re showing symptoms or not.

Roess said one of the concerns of testing only symptomatic workers is that it can give health experts an inaccurate picture of infection rates. That testing strategy can miss people who carry the disease and quietly transmit it.

Without tests of symptomatic and asymptomatic people, it’s hard to assess how big the risk of an outbreak is or if enough preventative measures are in place.

She also said testing workers in dairies and poultry farms has specific challenges.

“A lot of food production workers are low-wage workers who do not have meaningful healthcare access,” Roess said. “It is extremely difficult to convince someone to take time away from work to go get tested when they are sick if that means they will lose income.”

Federal health officials are publishing data from wastewater monitoring, but independent public health experts have asked states and cities to do more testing for avian flu.

State officials not planning to test wastewater in New Mexico for avian flu

New Mexico officials are submitting results from H5 influenza tests in Santa Fe and Albuquerque to the national dashboard, but are not testing in Curry and Roosevelt counties – where the outbreaks in dairies and a poultry facility have been located.

Morgan didn’t say what would trigger increased surveillance, only saying the department “would pursue wastewater testing if the results would inform public health actions.”

State health officials previously gave sets of masks and gloves to two dairies for their employees and distributed 3,000 sets of personal protective equipment to community groups.

Morgan urged dairy workers and their families to get the seasonal flu vaccine, saying that, while it will not protect against the avian flu H5N1 strain, it will reduce infection from a common flu strain at the same time.

“Being vaccinated against flu also gives the H5N1 virus fewer chances to combine with seasonal influenza strains, which could enable it to transmit person-to-person,” Morgan said.

There is no vaccine widely available for H5N1. TheU.S. has only 5 million of the vaccines against the strain spreading right now.

Migration season sees a spike in cases in other states

As billions of birds are migrating, health officials in other states are raising the alarm about increased cases of bird flu in wild populations.

Contact with infected wild birds caused recent backyard farm animal infections in Washington including pigs.

Pigs plus avian influenza has been a deadly combination before. In 2009, the H1N1 variant (nicknamed the “swine flu”) was a new combination of genes from influenza viruses that infected pigs, people and birds. It infected 20% of the global population.

New Mexico has recorded only 41 cases of avian influenza in wild birds, which pales in comparison to the several hundred cases detected in surrounding states such as Colorado and Utah, according to the USDA’s tracker.

The last date of a wild bird with H5N1 was recorded May 24 in Roosevelt county, according to the USDA data.

Darren Vaughn, a spokesperson for the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, said he could not provide answers by deadline to questions about the agency’s efforts to catalog avian influenza cases, or make anyone available for comment.

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New Mexico Star Habtom Samuel Finally Earns His First NCAA Cross Country Title

Published

8 hours ago

November 22, 2025

Press Room

New Mexico Star Habtom Samuel Finally Earns His First NCAA Cross Country Title

COLUMBIA, MISSOURI – NOVEMBER 22: Habtom Samuel #713 of the New Mexico Lobos runs during the Division I Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championship held at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course on November 22, 2025 in Columbia, Missouri. (Photo by Amy Kontras/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

NCAA Photos via Getty Images

When it comes to championship racing, timing is everything.

New Mexico’s Habtom Samuel certainly knew this heading into the NCAA Cross Country Championships at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Missouri, on Saturday.

Making matters more pressing, though, was the fact that the University of New Mexico junior had finished second at nationals over the prior two seasons—in 2024, in fact, he lost one of his spikes and still finished second overall.

This time, though, he didn’t want to leave a doubt.

And that’s exactly what Samuel did, unleashing a spectacular move with 1,500 meters left to pull away from the field and claim his first individual win in a time of 28:33.9 over 10,000 meters. Meters from the finish, Samuel drew out his arms and weaved his way to the finish, soaking in the moment.

NCAA Photos via Getty Images

“I said to my coach, ‘I’m going to surprise you guys today,’” Samuel told reporters afterward. “I wanted to be patient. I understood the game and made a good decision.”

Samuel’s 1,000-meter split over the ninth kilometer was 2:37.4, a time that equals out to a 4:13 mile. That surge mattered in the long run, because it put distance between him and his competition. In fact, it put him three seconds on Wake Forest’s Rocky Hansen and Oklahoma State’s Brian Musau, and four seconds on Oklahoma State’s Denis Kipngetich and five on Washington State’s Solomon Kipchoge.

“I kind of planned on not coming with the guys through 400 (meters) or something,” Samuel said. “I know some guys at 1,500, maybe they gonna kick me out, so I prefer to just run longer and just run hard. That was my plan.”

Hansen, the first American collegian to finish and one of just two inside the top 10, was second in 28:38, while Kipchoge was third in 28:40.1. Musau was fourth, while Oklahoma State’s Fouad Messaoudi and Kipngetich were fifth and sixth.

All were vying for the win down the stretch.

How The Men’s NCAA Cross Country Championships Shook Out

It wasn’t all bad news for the Oklahoma State men, though.

The Cowboys totaled a low of 57 points, winning their second championship since 2023 under head coach Dave Smith.

The win was also a bit of validation for the 19-year head coach, who in the days leading up to the championship was involved in a somewhat heated discussion about the use of international athletes on NCAA rosters.

In a story by the Desert News that published before NCAAs, BYU coach Ed Eyestone commented on the proliferation of overseas companies specializing in the signing of African runners to U.S. colleges for fees, saying “I always felt I’d be embarrassed to have seven foreigners on the team.”

Oklahoma State’s top four runners on Saturday were recruited and signed internationally, while its fifth, senior Ryan Schoppe, joined the Cowboys from a Texas high school in 2020.

Smith was apparently not happy with the comment and countered in a pre-race press conference.

“I have no problem with anybody running their program within the rules and doing things the way they should be done,” Smith said. “If I believe that someone doesn’t like a rule or doesn’t like a situation in the NCAA, don’t b**** about it. Go change it. Get involved. Get involved in the sport. Get involved in leadership and make change the way change is supposed to be made. Otherwise, shut up and coach your team. That’s what I think about this stuff.”

Elsewhere, New Mexico’s men slotted in second overall in the team race with 82 points, while one of the pre-race favorites, Iowa State, was third with 158 points. Syracuse and Oregon were fourth and fifth, respectively.

COLUMBIA, MISSOURI – NOVEMBER 22: Doris Lemngole #109 of the Alabama Crimson Tide runs during the Division I Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championship held at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course on November 22, 2025 in Columbia, Missouri. (Photo by Amy Kontras/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

NCAA Photos via Getty Images

Doris Lemngole, Jane Hedengren Battle In Women’s NCAA Cross Country Championships

In the women’s race, a two-way battle emerged between defending NCAA champion Doris Lemngole and BYU star freshman Jane Hedengren.

After leading for the first half of the race, Hedengren succumbed to Lemngole’s press at about the 3,000-meter mark, though she stayed on the runner’s hip almost until the near end.

It wasn’t until the final last meters–about less than 800 meters to go–that the 23-year-old Lemngole finally began to leg past Hedengren.

The Alabama junior went on to claim her second straight national title over 6,000 meters, this time crossing the line in 18:25.4. She’s the first repeat champion since Villanova’s Sheila Reid in 2010 and 2011.

Hedengren was vying to become the first freshman since Suzie Tuffey in 1985 to win a national cross-country title.

Florida senior Hilda Olemomoi was third in 18:46.4, while BYU’s Riley Chamberlain was fourth in 18:47.0.

The NC State Women Win Their Fifth Cross Country Title Since 2021

Next brought home NC State’s title run.

Between Hannah Gapes and Grace Hartman, who finished fifth and sixth, the two juniors led the Wolfpack to their fifth national title since 2021 under head coach Laurie Henes.

NC State, which nabbed a three-peat from 2021-2023, scored 114 points and outlasted BYU’s own bid for a repeat.

The Cougars were second with 130 points, securing their fifth first- or second-place finish since 2019 under head coach Diljeet Taylor.

Oregon was third overall with 153 points, while New Mexico was fourth and Florida fifth at the NCAA Cross Country Championships.

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Deyton Albury scores 13 for New Mexico in 80-78 win over Mississippi State in Hall of Fame Classic

Published

1 day ago

November 21, 2025

Press Room

Deyton Albury scores 13 for New Mexico in 80-78 win over Mississippi State in Hall of Fame Classic

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Deyton Albury scored 13 points for New Mexico, including the go-ahead layup with 30 seconds left in an 80-78 win over Mississippi State in the Hall of Fame Classic consolation game on Friday night.

Albury’s layup came off a turnover on a bad pass, sending the Lobos (4-2) on a fast break before Uriah Tenette was fouled. Tenette hit both shots from the free-throw line with seven seconds left to end the game.

Thomislav Buljan earned his third double-double of the season, finishing with 19 points and 21 rebounds, breaking a freshman program record for most rebounds in a game. Tenette added 13 points, and Antonio Chol had 12.

Mississippi State (2-3) was led by Josh Hubbard, who scored 29 points and dished out four assists. He shot 11 of 25 from the field and six of 13 from beyond the arc. Jayden Epps added 21 points.

___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

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