Science Quickly

Bird Flu’s Jump to Cattle Took Dairy Farmers by Surprise (Part 2)


Listen Later

Dairy cattle have become an intermediary between avian influenza found in wild birds and the handful of recorded H5N1 bird flu cases in humans. Senior news reporter Meghan Bartels took a trip upstate to Cornell University’s Teaching Dairy Barn. Early last year Texas dairy farmers noticed lethargic cows producing off-color milk. One of them sent Cornell researchers a sample, which genetic sequencing determined to contain a strain of H5N1. That strain traces its roots to the H5N1 virus that emerged in China in the late 1990s—which spread around the world thanks to migrating wild birds, such as those found on the beach that associate health and medicine editor Lauren Young visited in episode one of our three-part series about bird flu. And outbreak of H5N1 has been running through poultry farms since the early 2020s. Poultry farmers have been forced to cull flocks, reinforce biosecurity protocols and change the prices of eggs as a result. Dairy farms were less prepared for the spillover and its unexpected transition into raw-milk-drinking barn cats. While pasteurization makes milk safe for human consumption, there’s no easy way to prevent the spread between herds of cattle. In the next episode, multimedia intern and producer Naeem Amarsy looks at how the virus made yet another hop—this time into humans.


Recommended reading:

How the U.S. Lost Control of Bird Flu, Setting the Stage for Another Pandemic

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bird-flu-has-spread-out-of-control-after-mistakes-by-u-s-government-and/ 

Bird Flu Vaccine for Cows Passes Early Test

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bird-flu-vaccine-for-cows-passes-early-test/ 


E-mail us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover!

Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. 


Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Naeem Amarsy and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was reported and hosted by Meghan Bartels. This series is reported and produced by Lauren Young, Meghan Bartels, Naeem Amarsy, Fonda Mwangi and Jeff DelViscio. Special thanks to Becka Bowyer and Kaitlyn Serrao at Cornell University and to Kimberly Lau, Dean Visser and Jeanna Bryner at Scientific American. Our show is edited by Alex Sugiura with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.


Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Science QuicklyBy Scientific American

  • 4.2
  • 4.2
  • 4.2
  • 4.2
  • 4.2

4.2

599 ratings


More shows like Science Quickly

View all
Science Friday by Science Friday and WNYC Studios

Science Friday

6,097 Listeners

Big Picture Science by Big Picture Science

Big Picture Science

938 Listeners

The Naked Scientists Podcast by The Naked Scientists

The Naked Scientists Podcast

604 Listeners

Nature Podcast by Springer Nature Limited

Nature Podcast

752 Listeners

Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science by The Planetary Society

Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science

1,342 Listeners

Science Magazine Podcast by Science Magazine

Science Magazine Podcast

809 Listeners

Science Quickly by Scientific American

Science Quickly

1,372 Listeners

5 Live Science Podcast by BBC Radio 5 Live

5 Live Science Podcast

109 Listeners

Science In Action by BBC World Service

Science In Action

344 Listeners

60-Second Space by Scientific American

60-Second Space

216 Listeners

Discovery by BBC World Service

Discovery

953 Listeners

60-Second Health by Scientific American

60-Second Health

77 Listeners

60-Second Tech by Scientific American

60-Second Tech

60 Listeners

60-Second Mind by Scientific American

60-Second Mind

52 Listeners

Science Talk by Scientific American

Science Talk

83 Listeners

Unexpected Elements by BBC World Service

Unexpected Elements

355 Listeners

BBC Inside Science by BBC Radio 4

BBC Inside Science

401 Listeners

The Quanta Podcast by Quanta Magazine

The Quanta Podcast

498 Listeners

SpaceTime: Your Guide to Space & Astronomy by Stuart Gary

SpaceTime: Your Guide to Space & Astronomy

319 Listeners

Science, Quickly by Scientific American

Science, Quickly

43 Listeners

Physics World Weekly Podcast by Physics World

Physics World Weekly Podcast

79 Listeners