Dairy cattle in Nevada have been infected with a new type of bird flu that’s different from the version that has spread in U.S. herds since last year, Agriculture Department officials said Wednesday.

A version of the avian influenza virus different from the one rampaging through herds since last spring has been detected in dairy cows in Nevada, USDA says.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has detected a bird flu strain in dairy cattle that previously had not been seen in cows, the agency's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said on Wednesday.

The finding indicates that the virus, known as H5N1, has spilled from birds into cows at least twice — leading to these two sets of infections — and that it could continue to do so. It also suggests that the virus may pose a persistent risk to cows and to the people who work closely with them.

Dairy cows in Nevada have been infected with a new strain of bird flu, marking the second strain detected in herds since March.

A new strain of bird flu has been detected in US dairy cattle, raising concerns about its potential transmission and impact on livestock and public health. The USDA confirmed that highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1,

A second type of bird flu has been found in U.S. dairy cows for the first time, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on Wednesday.