Bird Flu Research Intensifies Amid Rising U.S. Cases

Scientists at the National Animal Disease Center in Ames, Iowa, are investigating the spread of bird flu among U.S. animals, including dairy cows, and developing a cow vaccine to mitigate the risk of the virus becoming a human pandemic. Concurrently, a new £2.3 million research consortium in the UK is studying how avian influenza behaves in wild bird and mammal populations to better understand its transmission and risks. The current H5N1 strain of bird flu, which has caused significant outbreaks in the UK and globally, is particularly concerning as it has infected various wild and domesticated animals and has the potential to mutate further, posing a pandemic threat to humans. USDA reports indicate that the H5N1 virus is asymptomatically infecting dairy cattle in the U.S., raising further concerns about interspecies transmission and potential human impact.