WHO Official Warns of Bird Flu Spread in Cows Outside US Due to Migratory Birds

Rewriting article on bird flu spreading to cows in other countries and U.S.’ virus transparency: A senior official from the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that there is a risk of H5N1 avian influenza, also known as bird flu, infecting cattle in nations beyond the United States due to migratory birds carrying it around the world. Wenqing Zhang, head of WHO’s Global Influenza Programme, made this statement during a news briefing held at their Geneva headquarters on Tuesday (18 April). Accordingly, health authorities across numerous nations are closely watching these incidents while investigating how to ensure that the consumption and sale of milk and meat from infected herds remain safe. Zhang stressed in this regard that even though she believed overall public health risks connected with H5N1 bird flu were low at present, it was still crucial for people to stay vigilant owing partly due to some virulent subspecies carrying deadly mortality rates beyond usual avian influenza levels (as high as 90% in certain instances). In the United States alone since late March this year, officials have confirmed that H5N1 has already hit dairy herds of cows numbering 34 throughout nine distinct states. Furthermore, a single individual from Texas was also diagnosed with bird flu last month (27 March), representing just one among roughly four hundred instances across eighteen separate U.S. States where avian influenza has been identified since December 2014 in poultry and wild birds alike. Zhang commended the United States’ decision to share genetic sequences of this virus early, stating that it had enabled WHO to monitor events closely while updating preparedness measures adequately throughout global healthcare circles thus far too.\n”[U.S.] CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) collaboration with us and the information we’ve received so far enables us to monitor this situation,” she added, highlighting that regular updates from American health authorities had been forthcoming as well during these outbreaks.