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+--- Thread: Cows infected with bird flu (H5N1) in Texas and Kansas (/Thread-Cows-infected-with-bird-flu-H5N1-in-Texas-and-Kansas)
Cows infected with bird flu (H5N1) in Texas and Kansas - Maxmars - 03-27-2024
From the NY Times: Bird Flu Spreads to Dairy Cows
Also, from NewScientist: Bird flu detected in US dairy cows – here’s what you need to know
Many cows in Texas, Kansas, and maybe New Mexico have somehow acquired the Bird Flu... this is the first time such a transmission to cattle has ever been detected. This subtype of bird flu is called H5N1, and it kills millions of birds each year.
In several cases, the virus was detected in unpasteurized samples of milk collected from sick cows. Pasteurization should inactivate the flu virus, experts said, and officials stressed that the milk supply was safe.
“At this stage, there is no concern about the safety of the commercial milk supply or that this circumstance poses a risk to consumer health,” the agency said in a statement.
Outside experts agreed. “It has only been found in milk that is grossly abnormal,” said Dr. Jim Lowe, a veterinarian and influenza researcher at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
While this seems to be a mystery ... it is important to remember that pasteurization of milk is precisely to deal with these infectious agents... so fret not. Furthermore...
The worst-case scenario is the virus spread amongst the cows, but this is perhaps unlikely, he says. That is because we haven’t found evidence that bird flu can transmit between mammals.
While some cows seem to have fallen ill, none have died, reportedly.
