In the past few years, veterinarians were primarily concerned with how the avian flu affected the poultry population, but their research expanded in March when a cow tested positive for the virus in the Texas panhandle.
Elisha Frye, an assistant professor of practice at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, said the university has been at the forefront of tracking the spread.
"Even though we're in New York, we were shipped samples from Texas, and that's how we helped to find the virus,” she said. “Subsequently, it has spread to some other states, and then we're working with New York State Ag and Markets to hopefully keep it out of New York."
While avian flu has not been detected in New York state cattle, Cornell is working with the New York State Fair to keep it that way. Frye said Cornell researchers have tested more than 5,000 milk samples to make sure cows entering the fairgrounds are healthy.
The virus is rarely fatal in cows, but it can cause a lack of appetite, a decrease in milk production, and a fever, so Frye said it’s important to stop the spread.
“(Cows) live in close contact with each other,” she said. “They lay in beds, and they're a species that does naturally kind of come in contact with each other and the way we house cows, they are in close quarters."
Frye said the cows have to be tested within seven days of their arrival at the fair, and they will be examined and have their paperwork checked by a veterinarian when they arrive.
