Saturday, June 20, 2026

Bird flu targets cows' mammary glands

 
Photo credit:  Texas Farm Bureau
Headline:  The Scientist, 6/19/2026

Sneha Khedkar reports:
In 2024, dairy cattle in northern Texas’s panhandle region suffered from a sudden illness. The milk that affected cows produced was thick and creamy yellow. The animals’ postmortem examination showed signs of mastitis, an inflammatory condition that damages mammary gland tissues. 
“Mastitis is a classic disease in milk-production animals, and veterinarians were dutifully looking to all the usual suspects for the source, like bacterial pathogens,” said Suresh Kuchipudi, a veterinary microbiologist at the University of Pittsburgh in a statement. 
However, deeper investigations of the affected animals’ milk, serum, and tissue samples revealed an unlikely suspect: an H5N1 strain of the highly pathogenic avian influenza A virus, which causes bird flu. “When the real culprit turned out to be bird flu, everyone in the field was caught completely by surprise. We hadn't even remotely considered that cattle could be a host for H5N1,” said Kuchipudi. One of the most striking observations was that instead of affecting the lungs like it does in other mammals, H5N1 targeted the cows’ mammary glands.

Other bird flu posts:
June 11-20:

June 1-10:

May 16-31

May 11-15

May 6-10

May 1-5:

April 26-30:

April 21-25:
California bird flu news:  It's everywhere, it's everywhere!  (4/23)

April 16-20
 
April 11-15:

April 6-10:  
Even the 1% have to deal with bird flu  (The Hamptons Long Island edition).  (4/9)

April 1-5
Lancaster County Pennsylvania reports yet another case of bird flu. (4/1

March 26-31:

March 21-25:

March 16-20:

March 11-15, 2025

March 6-10, 2026.  

March 1-5, 2026

February 20-28,2026
SHOCKER!!  Dead birds found in Ohio gated community.  Bird flu suspected.  (2/21)

February 10-19, 2026
February 1-9, 2026

January 21-31, 2026

January 11-20, 2026
New York tells resident don't touch those dead birds.  (1/17)

January 1-10, 2026
Bird flu strain of avian influenza:  "The picture has grown darker and stranger than most would have imagined".  (1/8)
Bird flu reported on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. (1/8)Dozens of vultures die of bird flu in North Carolina.  (1/8)

December 16-31, 2025

December 1-15, 2025

November 15-30, 2025

November 1-15, 2025

October 2025

September 2025

April-August 2025


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