Bird Flu in Raw Cow Milk Has Killed Farm Cats in a Concerning First

[gary]

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/

[gary]

Originally Posted by Arianna Johnson, Forbes magazine

Bird flu outbreaks have affected 34 dairy cow herds across nine states, causing some to question whether the use of contaminated poultry litter as cow feed may be the source of transmission, though experts say not enough is known to draw this conclusion.

Poultry litter (also known as chicken or broiler litter) is a mixture of chicken feces, feathers and bedding materials like sawdust, peanut hulls and pine shavings sweeped up from chicken coops, and typically used as a fertilizer and as feed for cattle

Poultry litter is used as feed among cattle because it’s a cheap source of protein, and an inexpensive way to dispose of the waste, according to the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Missouri. The FDA initially discouraged the use of poultry litter as feed in 1967, but rescinded this suggestion in 1980 after extensive research was conducted and left the decision up to state governments.

Story at Forbes "Is Chicken Feces Behind The Bird Flu Outbreaks In Cows?" :-
https://www.forbes.com/sites/arianna...h=aab40808ed33

[Davros (Lauren)]

It’s certainly concerning

[By.Jove (Jove)]

... and the US has been sitting on it quietly.

It can infect humans and the fatality rate is 53%. Scary, especially if you are a farmer or like to eat raw or rare beef (beef carpaccio, anyone ?)

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/...01-p5fo29.html