NBC News via Reuters
The Department of Agriculture (USDA) detected an avian flu strain in dairy cattle that had not been seen previously in cows, according to a report on Wednesday of the health inspection service of animals and plants of the agency.
The announcement was made by the Sanitary Inspection Service of Animals and Plants of the USDA, which has indicated that all the previous infections – a total of 957 – in dairy cows had been caused by the same strain of the virus before the new variant.
Almost 70 people in the US have contracted aviar flu, most agricultural workers, according to disease control and prevention centers.
The USDA indicated in a statement that a study of the sequence of the Nevada milk genome had first identified a different strain in dairy cows.
The Reuters news agency reported the detection of the second strain on Wednesday, before the USDA announcement.
That second strain It was the predominant genotype Among wild birds last fall and winter, the agency said. It was identified through the National Milk Analysis Strategy, which began analyzing milk throughout the country in search of avian flu in December.
The Nevada Agriculture Department indicated in a January 31 statement that the herds of two counties had been quarantically placed due to the detection of avian flu. He did not identify which strain had infected the herds, only that the strain had been detected in wild birds.
The state agency did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
On January 31, the USDA reported Four dairy herds in Nevada that had contracted the aviar flu, according to agency data.
It is important that the USDA contains the outbreak quickly, so that the strain does not spread to the dairy cattle of other states, said Dr. Gail Hansen, veterinary and public health consultant.
Last year, the virus spread throughout the country when cows infected from Texas were sent after the virus first jump to dairy cattle through wild birds.
“We do not control it before and it was allowed that the cattle moved when it was still infectious,” said Hansen. “We want to prevent the same scenario from being repeated in Nevada.”
USDA demands that dairy cattle in the breastfeeding period be subjected to avian flu tests before crossing state borders.
“I suspect that the cattle that have been infected with the previous strain will not necessarily be protected against this strain,” Hansen added.
