200 Cows Found Dead in Wisconsin

It’s not just the birds anymore: A herd of 200 cows fell ill and died suddenly in central Wisconsin. A local veterinarian says the steers appear to have contracted a respiratory virus. The illness, which began to spread through the herd starting early last week, killed the animals within 12 hours. While local authorities say there’s no threat to humans, the dead cows were removed in semi trucks over the weekend, and samples have been sent for laboratory testing. It’s the latest in a string of mass deaths of animals around the globe, which started with thousands of dead blackbirds falling from the sky in Arkansas and Louisiana and continued with dead birds in Italy and dead fish in Maryland and elsewhere.