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Health

Lack of US bird flu tracking in cows may raise risk of human infection

The strategy for tracking bird flu in US dairy cattle falls worryingly short of what is needed to prevent the outbreak from widening and potentially spreading to humans

By Grace Wade

7 May 2024

Young veterinarian working at cow farm

Bird flu is now in US dairy herds

mladenbalinovac/Getty Images

Public health experts warn not enough is being done to contain the spread of a bird flu virus in US dairy cows, raising the risk of the disease spilling over into people.

More than a month has passed since the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) first announced that dairy cattle in several US states had tested positive for a bird flu virus called H5N1, which has killed millions of birds and hundreds of mammals worldwide. The virus has since been detected in 36…

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