USDA tests ground beef for bird flu

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will test ground beef for bird flu particles, though officials said Tuesday they are confident the nation’s meat supply is safe.

Bird flu has been found in nearly three dozen dairy herds in nine states. The new tests are the USDA’s latest effort to track and understand how the virus spreads among livestock.

Two studies will test whether particles of the bird flu virus, called Type A H5N1, are found in beef for sale in states where dairy cows have tested positive, or in the muscles of dairy cows sent to slaughter. A third will test how cooking meat at different temperatures affects the virus using an avian flu surrogate.

A week ago, the US Food and Drug Administration confirmed that it had found non-contagious remains of the bird flu virus in pasteurized milk. The particles are inactive and pose no threat to consumers, experts said.

Scientists say there is no evidence that people can get bird flu from consuming food that has been pasteurized or properly cooked.

The virus was first found in dairy cows this spring and since then H5N1 has been found in the lung tissue of a dairy cow that was culled and sent to slaughter.

So far, officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have seen no signs that the virus is changing and becoming more transmissible to humans. Two farm workers have been infected with bird flu since the outbreak began.

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AP Health writer JoNel Aleccia contributed to this report.