
A World Health Organization official warned Tuesday about the risk of infecting cows beyond the United States with the H5N1 virus, which is present in many migratory birds.
US officials are scrambling to verify the safety of milk and meat after the bird flu virus was confirmed at several cow farms in nine states since late March and one individual in Texas.
"As the migratory birds carrying the virus continue their ritual around the world, there is a risk of infecting cows in other countries," Wenqing Zhang, who heads the World Health Organization's global program on cattle diseases, told a news conference in Geneva. airways.
The H5N1 virus is widespread among wild birds in the United States and has in some cases also spread to chickens and cats, but so far rarely to cows.
Mr. Zhang said that the United Nations agency considers the risk posed by the virus to public health to be low, but called for caution, especially for farm workers. While it is thought the virus may not be spread through milk, Zhang reiterated the WHO's advice to consume only boiled milk.
Asked to rate US transparency on the cow farm infestation, Ms Zhang said the agency had been regularly briefed as she assessed the decision to immediately share the genetic sequence of the virus. /VOA