Colorado is investigating a second possible outbreak of bird flu in a dairy herd, the state veterinarian said this week.

The potential new outbreak — coming less than a week after Colorado identified its first outbreak — is an indicator of how rapidly health officials are trying to catch up to bird flu’s spread through dairy cattle.

Dr. Maggie Baldwin, who manages the Colorado Department of Agriculture’s Animal Health Division, did not provide additional details on the dairy or where it is located. She said the state is awaiting test results from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to confirm whether bird flu, also known as highly pathogenic avian influenza, is involved.

“USDA’s confirmatory testing is taking a little bit longer with the load that they’re getting currently for testing,” Baldwin said.

Nationwide, avian influenza has reached at least 36 dairy herds in nine states, and state and federal officials recently released new testing orders intended to more aggressively track its spread.

Read more from John Ingold at ColoradoSun.com