In an effort to contain the recent outbreak of bird flu, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has implemented new regulations for lactating dairy cows. As of Monday, April 29, the cows must test negative for the virus before being transported across state lines.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported on Friday, April 26, that initial tests on milk, conducted using gold-standard PCR tests, revealed the pasteurization effectively kills the bird flu virus. Colorado has become the ninth state to confirm cases of infected dairy herds.
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Additionally, the USDA announced plans to test retail beef samples using PCR tests and conduct a study on the virus’s behavior when exposed to different cooking temperatures. The agency has emphasized that cooking meat to the recommended internal temperature effectively eliminates bacteria and viruses.
The USDA is examining beef muscle samples from condemned cattle at the slaughter facilities to detect vital particles. Bird flu was detected in a lung tissue sample from an asymptomatic dairy cow, though it did not enter the food supply.
Colombia has restricted beef and beef products from states with confirmed cases of avian influenza in dairy cows.
Despite these measures, the USDA assures people that the meat supply remains safe. Ground beef samples from affected states are being collected for testing to determine the presence of viral particles. The USDA has not yet specified when the ground beef testing will take place.
