MIAMI- He bird flu virus was first detected in beefannounced the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA for its acronym in English), but authorities said the dairy cow meat disease would enter the country’s food supply and that the beef remains safe for consumption.
He USDA explained that the virus was detected in tests carried out on 96 Milky cows that were removed from supply because federal inspectors detected signs of disease during routine inspections of animals slaughtered in meat processing plants. Avian flu was only detected in one of those cows.
The presence of bird flu was confirmed in dairy herds in nine states, specifically in milk, and led to the slaughter of millions of chickens and turkeys. But its discovery in beef is new since the disease outbreak began in 2022.
The agency said last month it would test ground beef for bird flu in retail stores, but has yet to find any traces of the virus.
Even if bird flu ended up in consumers’ beef, the USDA says cooking the meat to an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit (73.9 Celsius) would kill it, just as it kills E. coli and other germs.
Two dairy farm workers in Michigan and Texas fell ill with bird flu this spring. The danger to the public remains low, but farm workers exposed to infected animals are at increased risk, according to health authorities.
Only one other human case of bird flu has been confirmed in the United States. In 2022, a work program inmate contracted it while slaughtering infected birds at a poultry farm in Montrose County, Colorado. Her only symptom was fatigue, and she recovered.
Source: With information from AP
