An experiment with cows in a high-security laboratory in the United States offers alarming data on the possibility of stopping the global bird flu epi

Experiment confirms that bird flu in the US is spread by milking procedures

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2024-09-25 21:30:06

An experiment with cows in a high-security laboratory in the United States offers alarming data on the possibility of stopping the global bird flu epidemic, the worst recorded in history.

American and German scientists experimentally infected calves and dairy cows in a level 3 security laboratory to determine the transmission route of the highly pathogenic avian influenza, which is affecting animals on 231 farms in 14 U.S. states. The results confirm that the H5N1 virus accumulates in the udders and milk of cows, and is probably being transmitted by industrial milking systems.

The authors of the paper warn that the H5N1 virus variant spreading in Europe is also capable of infecting dairy cows and making them sick. With a single jump of the virus from a wild bird to a farm animal, Europe could be in the same position as the U.S.

The study comes just days after the U.S. Center for Disease Control reported that a second health worker had developed respiratory symptoms after caring for a patient who tested positive for H5N1 in the state of Missouri, but wasn’t tested for influenza. This is worrying since the Missouri patient is the only case who did not have contact with poultry or dairy cows. It is not known how they were infected.