California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an emergency declaration Wednesday in response to growing concerns about bird flu cases in the state and across the country.

The declaration of a state of emergency comes after additional cases of bird flu were detected in dairy cows in Southern California, the governor’s office said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also met on Wednesday report the first serious illness in one person due to avian influenza from a Louisiana case.

“This proclamation is a targeted measure to ensure government agencies have the resources and flexibility they need to respond quickly to this outbreak,” Newsom said in a statement.

Health and government officials note that no cases of human-to-human transmission of bird flu have been recorded in California.

Still, in the U.S., the CDC has recorded a total of 61 human cases of bird flu in 16 states so far – more than half of those cases, 34, occurred in California.

Although there is no link to a known human case, a California raw milk dairy issued a voluntary recall in early December after avian flu was found in many animals.

Newsom also noted that California has already taken steps to combat bird flu by working with dairy and poultry farms to minimize farmworker exposure. Many of the confirmed cases of bird flu are linked to dairy and poultry workers. health officials said.

“While the risk to the public remains low, we will continue to take all necessary steps to prevent the spread of this virus,” Newsom said in a statement.

As with other emergency declarations, Newsom noted that the action will allow state and local authorities to respond to the bird flu situation.

California was not the first state to declare a state of emergency because of bird flu. In early 2024, Colorado Governor Jared Polis issued an emergency declaration for Weld County due to an outbreak there.

The current bird flu outbreak began in 2022. Since then, officials say more than 100 million birds were killed by poultry farms to control the spread of the disease.