Bird flu virus found in beef from ill cow, US authorities say meat safe to eat


NEW DELHI: The US department of agriculture (USDA) said on Friday that bird flu virus has been detected in beef from an ill dairy cow further adding that beef remains safe to eat as the virus was barred from entering the country’s food supply.
According to the USDA, the virus was discovered during testing of 96 dairy cows that were removed from the supply after government inspectors observed signs of sickness during routine carcass inspections at meat processing plants.Only one of the cows tested positive for bird flu.
Even if bird flu were to end up in consumer beef, the USDA claims that heatingit to an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit (73.9 Celsius) will kill it, just as it does E. coli and other viruses.
52 herds in US were infected with avian flu in nine of the 50 states as of Wednesday. This is the first time it has been discovered in beef since its outbreak in 2022.
The US on Wednesday reported second case of bird flu in a human, less than two months after the first case.
According to authorities, both persons infected with the H5N1 virus — the first in Texas and the second in Michigan — were dairy farm workers who experienced relatively minimal symptoms and have now recovered, AFP reported.