Concerns are growing in the U.S. agriculture sector as recent tests revealed that the bird flu virus was found in one-fifth of commercial %Milk samples.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says that it detected the bird flu virus in one in five milk samples that it recently tested, raising alarm bells among consumers and farmers.
The FDA says more tests are needed to determine if the pathogen that has been found is infectious and harmful to humans.
The recent milk study shows that the bird flu virus is spreading rapidly among cattle herds in the U.S., especially dairy cows.
To date, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has confirmed 33 infected cattle herds in eight states, including Texas, Kansas, Michigan, and Ohio.
On April 24, the USDA announced that it is implementing mandatory testing of dairy cows moving across state borders as part of efforts to control the outbreak and contain the spread of the bird flu virus.
While bird flu has killed millions of birds around the world, U.S. government officials have reaffirmed that the risk to humans remains low.
So far this year, the U.S. has reported only one incident of a person being infected with the bird flu virus and no human-to-human transmission.
The person infected with bird flu reportedly had direct contact with contaminated cattle and experienced only minor flu symptoms, according to the USDA.