USDA begins testing ground beef supply for BIRD FLU as steak dinners and burgers could be at risk from outbreak on US farms
- The USDA will test whether well-cooked meat will kill bird flu particles
- So far it has not been found in meat, although it has entered dairy cow herds
- READ MORE: Remnants of bird flu are found in supermarket milk
U.S. health officials will begin testing ground beef for bird flu amid fears the virus could enter the commercial meat supply.
Federal health officials have insisted meat is safe, but there are growing concerns about the virus found in commercial milk after ripping through farms across the country.
Three studies conducted by the Department of Agriculture (USDA) will test for bird flu particles in beef sold in supermarkets or in the muscle of dairy cows sent to slaughter.
The study will also look for evidence that cooking meat thoroughly – by opting for a well-done burger – will kill the virus.
A former FDA food safety expert previously urged DailyMail.com readers to eat only well-done beef and avoid runny eggs as the outbreak rages.
Ground beef is tested for bird flu. If it is detected, America’s beloved burgers may not be as available for Memorial Day
To date, no bird flu has been found in beef cattle. But before last month it had never been seen in dairy cows either.
Tests on supermarket milk even suggested that one in five products contain the virus, although experts insist the fragments are inactive and cannot infect people who drink the contaminated milk.
A USDA official said in a statement, “USDA maintains a rigorous meat inspection process, with USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) veterinarians present at all federal livestock slaughterhouses.”
The virus is only active when dairy is unpasteurized, a process that kills harmful bacteria and viruses. The department said the same goes for cooked beef.
Still, some doctors urge more caution.
Dr. Darin Detwiler, a former food safety adviser to the FDA and USDA, recently told DailyMail.com that Americans should avoid rare meats and runny eggs while the outbreak in livestock is ongoing, because improperly cooked animal products are more likely to carry viruses and bacteria.
Bird flu A (H5N1) first emerged in 1996, but since 2020 the number of outbreaks in birds has grown exponentially, alongside an increase in the number of infected mammals.
The species has caused the deaths of at least 90 million wild birds as well as infected land and marine mammals. The virus was also found in goats, which were previously thought not to be susceptible.
Government health officials insist that the traces of bird flu in milk are inactive and that the findings do not indicate that milk on supermarket shelves is unsafe
There has also been a case in a Texas farmer, the first affected human in the US.
Dr. Barb Petersen, a dairy veterinarian in Amarillo, Texas, explained that workers at a local farm where cattle have tested positive for the virus are experiencing tell-tale symptoms.
She said: ‘People had some classic flu-like symptoms including high fever, night sweats, chills, lower back pain’, as well as stomach upset, vomiting and diarrhoea.
They also often had “quite severe conjunctivitis and swelling of their eyelids.”
There is some fear that bird flu could morph into a strain that could lead to the next pandemic.
To be considered a pandemic, the disease must meet three criteria: it spreads easily among people, mainly through the air, is something the immune system has never had to deal with, and must cause disease in humans.
Many farmers are in constant contact with cows and the flu is known to infect people in close proximity to animals.
At least half of the more than 900 people infected with the virus since 1996 have died.