USDA Testing Beef Amid Bird Flu Outbreak in Dairy Cows

TUESDAY, April 30, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- As bird flu continues to spread among dairy cows, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday it is now testing ground beef for any presence of the virus.

The agency said it is sampling ground beef bought in grocery stores in states where dairy cattle have tested positive for the virus, also known as H5N1, CNN reported. Officials are also testing samples of muscle tissue from sick cows that have been culled from their herd.

Last but not least, the USDA is injecting a “virus surrogate” into ground beef and then cooking it at different temperatures, to see how much virus is killed under each heat setting.