Pasteurized Milk Serves as a Passive Surveillance Tool for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus in Dairy Cattle.

ABSTRACT: The emergence of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) clade 2.3.4.4b in dairy cattle across multiple U.S. states in early 2024 marks a major shift in the virus's host range and epidemiological profile. Traditionally limited to bird species, the ongoing detection of H5N1 in cattle, a mammalian host not previously considered vulnerable, raises urgent animal and human health concerns about zoonoses and mammalian adaptation. We assessed the feasibility of using commercially available pasteurized milk as a sentinel matrix for the molecular detection and genetic characterization of H5N1 HPAIV. Our aim was to determine whether retail milk could serve as a practical tool for virological monitoring and to evaluate the use of full-length genome segment amplification for extracting ge

SUBMITTER: Gontu A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12568113 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature