With 68 confirmed cases of humans contracting the bird flu and outbreaks in both poultry and beef farms, the B3.13 and D1.1 virus strains of bird flu have become a top concern among American farmers.
With Nebraska housing over 1.7 million cows and having the fourth greatest population of cattle in the United States according to World Population Review, the possible ramifications of the ongoing bird flu outbreak could be detrimental to Nebraska livestock farmers.
Avian influenza, also known as bird flu, is a highly infectious virus spread through contact with the saliva, mucus and feces of infected animals, according to the World Health Organization.
While the virus is most known for infecting birds, it is also capable of spreading to mammals, including cattle.
Over 157 million poultry have been affected according to the CDC, in an article published Feb. 10.
The virus has since been recorded in 962 dairy herds across 16 states, according to the CDC.
It’s not yet known how prevalent the virus is. Several cows in Nevada have been confirmed to have carried the virus without displaying symptoms beforehand, according to the University of Minnesota. This makes it more difficult to know the exact number of affected cattle.
Contributing further to the confusion, the more widespread strain, B3.13 has been joined by a second strain, D1.1, according to ABC.
Although the virus has only affected two humans, it already appears to be more dangerous than the B3.13 virus, killing an American man, 65, who had prior health conditions, and leaving a 13-year-old Canadian girl hospitalized in the ICU, according to ABC.
There are currently 68 confirmed human bird flu cases in the United States, with most victims being farmhands who caught the virus directly from infected animals, according to the CDC.
While bird flu has not yet been recorded in Nebraska’s human or cattle populations, it has been found in poultry flocks in both Kearney and Nance countries, according to the Nebraska Department of Agriculture.
With 1 in 4 jobs in Nebraska being related to agriculture according to the official Nebraska Department of Agriculture’s website, this outbreak is a cause for major concern.
Nebraska produced 7.6 billion pounds of commercial red meat in 2023, according to the NDA.
Should a large population of Nebraska’s cattle die or catch this infection, it could be disastrous to the state’s economy.
While the CDC has flu surveillance systems in place to monitor potential outbreaks according to their website, worry is still present.
Because the virus is often spread through wild bird flocks, it’s hard to determine if cattle populations have come into contact with infected animals.
Though the risk of cattle infection in Nebraska is still possible, the spread of bird flu from human to human is still unrecorded, according to the CDC,. Cases of human infection are limited to those who had contact with infected animals.
Precautions are still encouraged by health professionals, and include cooking meats and eggs thoroughly before consumption, avoiding raw dairy, and limiting exposure to wild birds, according to guidelines published by the CDC.
