BIRD FLU IN COW’S MILK
Virus bird flu H5N1increasingly found in mammals and, more recently, cattle and goats in the United States.has also been detected in milk tests of these infected farm animals, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned this Friday.
The head of the WHO’s global influenza prevention program, Zhang Wenqing, said at a press conference that following this discovery, “it is important to ensure food safety practices such as the exclusive consumption of pasteurized dairy products.”
WHO has been closely monitoring cases in the United States since a case of H5N1 infection in a Texas dairy farm worker was notified on April 1, marking the first known cow-to-human transmission of the virus.
“In recent outbreaks There have also been cases of transmission from birds to cows or from cows to each other. (…), which suggests that the virus is finding ways different from those previously known,” Zhang said.
“This is alarming, but it also serves as an incentive to monitor the disease more closely.”He added, noting that WHO is working with the World Organization for Animal Health (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on a possible re-evaluation of the H5N1 virus.
Although cases in humans remain rare (about 900 since 2003), WHO continues to warn about the possible evolution of the virus to allow transmission between people, which could give the disease pandemic potential as the case fatality rate is currently very high. (more than 50% of cases were fatal).
Zhang recalled what has been happening since 2020 “exponential growth” in the number of infections in birds, in addition to increasingly affected mammals, including seals, minks, sea lions and foxes, although the increasing adaptation of the virus to this animal species has not been confirmed.
Cases in cows and goats “This is another step in the spread of the virus among mammals.”– emphasized this Friday the expert, who demanded that special preventive measures be taken for workers on farms where cases of the disease were recorded.
“We ask all countries to remain vigilant, promptly report human cases when they occur, share sequencing and other data, and strengthen biosecurity measures on farms,” the WHO expert concluded.