California officials have declared a state of emergency over the spread of bird flu, which is tearing through dairy cows in that state and causing sporadic illnesses in people in the U.S.

A fast-growing outbreak of avian flu has upended California’s dairy industry, the nation’s largest producer of milk, infecting most of the state’s herds and putting thousands of farmworkers at risk for contracting the virus.

California declared a state of emergency this week over the spread of bird flu in the state as the virus continues to be detected among the state’s cattle herds. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said in a statement Wednesday that the declaration of an emergency is meant to “ensure government agencies have the resources