"Rising Concerns: Avian Flu Spreads in Dairy Industry"
The highly virulent strain of avian flu, H5N1, has infected more than 20 dairy herds across eight states in the US, raising concerns about potential impacts on the food supply and human health. The American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP) has controversially suggested renaming the disease in cows as Bovine Influenza A Virus (BIAV) to maintain consumer confidence in beef and dairy products. The infectious disease trap model explains how animal agriculture contributes to zoonotic disease risk, and the rapid spread of bird flu in cows is attributed to long-distance transportation of animals, a hallmark of intensive animal agriculture systems. Efforts to contain the spread of the disease are underway, but experts argue that broader societal rethinking of the factory farm system is necessary to escape the infectious disease trap.