The current outbreak began in 2020 and has led to the deaths of tens of millions of farmed birds, also infecting wild birds, as well as land and marine mammals. Cows and goats were added to the list last week, a surprising discovery for experts as these animals were not considered susceptible to this type of flu.
“Initial tests have not shown any changes in the virus that make it more transmissible to humans,” announced the Ministry of Agriculture, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Medicines Agency (FDA), in a press release last week, adding that the cows were infected by wild birds.
A first case in humans was discovered in the United States in 2022, in Colorado, but the victim had been infected by birds.
“If we continue to find pockets of contamination in cows, that means they will have to be monitored,” Louise Moncla, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary School, told AFP. “This represents a huge shift in how we understand these viruses,” she added.
Experts are concerned about the growing number of mammals infected with bird flu and its potential for spread, although they reaffirm that cases in humans are very rare.
“Currently, the general population has no real reason to worry”, reassured Moncla.
