In a 1st May 2024 report by Carly Casella at sciencealert.com, there has been a concerning development with bird flu in the US.
On March 25, the US Department of Agriculture reported the first confirmed case of bird flu ever identified among cows.
Several dairy farms in Kansas and Texas were affected, and later, their cows carried the virus to Michigan, Idaho, and Ohio when they were transported interstate.
A dozen cats on a dairy farm in Texas that drank unpasteurized milk from the cows fell sick and died.
Officials have assured the public that drinking pasteurized dairy milk will not expose them to the virus.
The Food and Drug Agency is carrying out extensive milk product tests, and it has detected no signs of the virus as of yet.
Cows in the US that are sick with bird flu are producing thick and syrupy milk, but perhaps this symptom isn't as apparent in the early days of illness.
But the case of the cats suggests that bird flu can jump from mammal to mammal, which may make the contagion harder to control.
Even among cows, experts still aren't sure how the virus is transmitted.
Meanwhile, authorities have been racing to curb further spread of the virus in dairy cattle, which is believed to have been spreading from cow-to-cow since a single initial spillover from wild birds earlier this year.
"Ingestion of feed contaminated with feces from wild birds infected with HPAI virus is presumed to be the most likely initial source of infection in the dairy farms," according to the CDC.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday it would test ground beef sold at retailers for H5N1 and would study how cooking beef could curb potential risk posed by the virus, in the wake of an earlier order ramping up testing on dairy cattle being shipped over state lines.
It is unclear whether any ground beef samples have so far tested positive for the virus.
Results "are forthcoming" and will be shared when available, the spokesperson said.
Story here :-
https://www.sciencealert.com/bird-fl...ncerning-first
Story at Nature "Bird flu virus has been spreading among US cows for months, RNA reveals" :-
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01256-5
Story at CBS "More than half of cats died after drinking raw milk from bird flu-infected cows" :-
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cats-di...infected-cows/