The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said yesterday that it will test ground beef samples from retail stores in states that have reported H5N1 avian flu outbreaks in dairy herds.
In other H5N1 developments, the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) reported more poultry outbreaks in two states: Michigan and Idaho.
Dairy cows a portion of the US beef supply
The USDA will use polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests to test the ground beef, according to Reuters, which cited a media statement released yesterday. PCR testing can detect virus fragments, not live virus, and is the same method the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) used to test retail milk.
Officials said they were confident that the US meat supply is safe. They also noted that they will use a virus surrogate to see how the virus is affected when the meat is cooked to different temperatures.
So far, the H5N1 detections have had little impact on international trade. Colombia is the only country to put import restrictions on US beef.
To date, no H5N1 infections have been reported in beef cattle. At a scientific symposium on H5N1 hosted by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) last week, a USDA official said the risk profile for virus spread to and among beef cattle is probably different. Dairy cows are managed differently, often kept in more confined spaces and sharing the same food and water sources.
The Meat Institute, a trade group that represents meat and poultry packers and processors, suppliers, and distributors, recently said dairy cows make up 6.8% of US beef production. In a recent statement, they said properly prepared beef remains safe and called for federal guidance to protect workers at beef facilities.
Poultry flock outbreaks in Michigan, Idaho
In other H5N1 developments, APHIS reported two more outbreaks in poultry flocks, part of a spike in activity over the past month.
In Michigan, the virus struck a commercial turkey farm housing 27,700 birds in Gratiot County, which is in the central part of the lower peninsula. Michigan is the hardest hit state in the recent spate of poultry outbreaks, with the virus hitting multiple large layer farms that are located in the same counties where H5N1 were found in dairy herds.
Elsewhere, the virus struck a backyard flock of 40 birds in Idaho's Cassia County, the same county where the virus was reported in Idaho dairy cows.
