(Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said on Wednesday that all the ground beef samples sent to the National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) for PCR testing, tested negative for H5N1 virus.
“NVSL reported that all samples tested negative for H5N1. These results reaffirm that the meat supply is safe,” the USDA added.
Federal authorities have been working to confirm the safety of milk and meat products following the detection of the H5N1 virus in 34 dairy cattle herds across nine states since the end of March. Additionally, one case has been confirmed in a person in Texas.
Both the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization have said the overall public health risk is low, but is higher for those with exposure to infected animals.
(Reporting by Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
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