Will the bird flu become the next cow flu?
The bird flu virus that has been sickening wild birds and causing farmers to have to systematically destroy entire flocks of poultry has been found in cattle and documented for the first time. Earlier this month, the highly pathogenic avian influenza was found in a goat in Minnesota — the first documented case in U.S. livestock. Texas, Kansas, and New Mexico reported on March 25th that a strain of H5N1 was detected in sickened cattle. Detecting this strain across multiple states is worrisome because it may signal that this strain of bird flu has mutated to transmit from cow to cow, instead of from birds, which may allow it to more easily transmit to humans as the virus continues to mutate. It also could indicate that this virus is airborne. The infections affect primarily older animals and has not caused death so far. Milk that comes from any cow must be pasteurized before its sale, so all pathogens — including the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus — are destroyed.
There are numerous factors that are necessary in large scale animal agriculture that make the practice extremely susceptible to the incubation and spread of agents of infection, including those that are dangerous to humans. Conditions in feedlots that have concentrated animal presence are nearly impossible to prevent from becoming dirty, allowing infections to fester and spread. Identifying and isolating sick individuals is challenging. The use of prophylactic antibiotics causes bacteria to mutate into more “successful” versions more quickly, but this is a virus. Certainly, having a huge population of hosts opens the opportunity for mutations in between transmissions of the disease. Challenges that arise with the type of scale needed to supply the market with low cost, abundant meat and dairy products will continue to become more serious as global population increases and climate change creates warmer and wetter environments for diseases.
Cohen, J. (2024, March 26). Bird flu discovered in U.S. dairy cows is ‘disturbing.’ Science. https://www.science.org/content/article/bird-flu-discovered-u-s-dairy-cows-disturbing
