First Bird Flu Detected in Beef; Human Anti-Pandemic Vaccines in Development

USDA inspections of 96 culled dairy cows turned up one positive sample; the beef would not have been allowed into the food supply.

There were two updates on avian influenza over the long weekend. USDA detected bird flu in beef for the first time, but the meat was not allowed to enter the nation's food supply. And media reports said U.S and European officials were stepping up development of vaccines that could prevent avian influenza from becoming a pandemic.

USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), which has been monitoring beef tissue from 96 culled and condemned dairy cows, said “viral particles were detected in tissue samples, including muscle, from one cow.

“Meat from condemned cows [presumably ones that show signs of any disease] is prohibited from entering the food supply … No meat from these dairy cattle entered the food supply.”

The 96 dairy cows were diverted from the supply because federal inspectors noticed signs of illness during routine inspections of carcasses at meat processing plants. Bird flu was found in only one of those cows.