Ever since scientists discovered influenza infecting American cows earlier this year, they have been puzzling over how it spreads from one animal to another. An experiment carried out in Kansas and Germany has shed some light on the mystery. Scientists failed to find evidence that the virus can spread as a respiratory infection. Juergen Richt,…
Elephant seals in South America died in massive numbers because the bird flu virus acquired mutations that allowed it to spread among mammals, according to a new study. The research offers the first genetic and epidemiological evidence of bird flu virus transmission among mammals. And the findings hold a warning: The virus, called H5N1, may…
A third farmworker in the United States has been found to be infected with bird flu, heightening concerns about an outbreak among dairy cattle first identified in March. The worker is the first in this outbreak to have respiratory symptoms, including a cough, sore throat and watery eyes, which generally increase the likelihood of transmission…
A farmworker in Michigan has been diagnosed with bird flu, state officials announced on Wednesday, making it the second human case associated with the outbreak in cows. Officials said that the individual became infected with the virus, called H5N1, after exposure to infected livestock. The individual had only mild symptoms and has fully recovered, officials…
The Biden administration said on Friday that it would compensate dairy farmers for cooperating with its efforts to limit the spread of the bird flu virus, part of a series of expansive measures aimed at containing an outbreak. The payment system amounted to one of the most forceful actions taken so far by agriculture officials…
Even as it has become increasingly clear that the bird flu outbreak on the nation’s dairy farms began months earlier — and is probably much more widespread — than previously thought, federal authorities have emphasized that the virus poses little risk to humans. Yet there is a group of people who are at high risk…
The bird flu virus sweeping across dairy farms in multiple states has acquired dozens of new mutations, including some that may make it more adept at spreading between species and less susceptible to antiviral drugs, according to a new study. None of the mutations is a cause for alarm on its own. But they underscore…
Additional testing of retail dairy products from across the country has turned up no signs of live bird flu virus, strengthening the consensus that pasteurization is protecting consumers from the threat, federal health and agriculture officials said at a news briefing on Wednesday. But the scope of the bird flu outbreak in cattle remains unclear,…
While maintaining that avian influenza poses a low risk to the general public, health officials again warned on Wednesday about the potential risk of unpasteurized milk. “We continue to strongly advise against the consumption of raw milk,” Dr. Donald Prater, acting director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the Food and…
Federal regulators on Friday said that they had not yet discovered live bird flu virus in the first batch of retail milk samples they tested, a reassuring indication that the milk on store shelves remains safe despite an outbreak of the virus among diary cows. In an online update, the Food and Drug Administration said…
