Bird flu, also known as H5N1, is a viral disease that primarily affects birds but can be transmitted to humans. The virus was first discovered in late March in sick cows and the US Department of Agriculture instructed farmers to discard milk from affected cows to keep the supply safe. Despite this, the presence of the virus in commercial milk suggests that these measures were not sufficient.
The virus was detected in cattle herds in eight states: Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Dakota, Ohio, and Texas. It is estimated to be a deadly virus that has already resulted in the deaths of millions of birds. While it can be deadly in humans, it does not spread easily and public health officials are not overly concerned about its spread in people. Only one person infected with the virus has been located so far, suffering from a viral eye infection while 44 others are under surveillance.
If cows test positive for the virus, they must undergo a 30-day waiting period before they can be released from quarantine and retested. The US milk supply goes through mandatory pasteurization which is supposed to kill any bacteria or virus making it unclear how the bird flu strain survived this process and ended up in milk products.
Bird flu symptoms in humans are similar to regular flu and coronavirus including high fever, cough, sore throat
