How fast is bird flu spreading in US cows? ‘We have no idea’

Avian flu is spreading rapidly among cattle, but public health and infectious disease experts are concerned the United States is too limited in its testing, leaving an incomplete picture of the virus’s spread.  

The threat to the general public is currently low, health officials say, and the country’s milk supply is safe. Just one person has been infected. ...

But the outbreak is widespread; officials have found the virus in 42 herds across nine states. Dairy farm workers are at risk every time they are exposed to potentially infected cattle, and viral mutations could cause an outbreak, experts warn.  

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US government announces new financial incentives for farms to stem the spread of bird flu in dairy cattle | CNN The US Department of Health and Human Services and the US Department of Agriculture announced on Friday a new plan to pay dairy farmers and farm workers to take steps to prevent the spread of H5N1 bird flu. Brenda Goodman CNN

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What a US farmworker’s case of bird flu tells us about tracking the infection | CNN A US farmworker who caught bird flu after working with dairy cattle in Texas appears to be the first known case of mammal-to-human transmission of the virus, a new study shows. Brenda Goodman CNN

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