Bird Flu May Spread Through Air on California Dairy Farms, Study Finds

A researcher collects a sample of a dairy cow’s exhaled breath in California.Source: Seema Lakdawala and colleagues

Air and wastewater may help spread bird flu on California dairy farms, according to a study that points to more transmission routes than previously understood.

Researchers sampling 14 infected farms found the H5N1 virus in the air during milking, in cows’ breath and in farm wastewater, pointing to multiple possible routes of transmission beyond contact with contaminated milk.