USDA Says Some Ground Beef Contains Bird Flu, But Is Safe To Eat If Thoroughly Cooked

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently published a study claiming that as long as consumers thoroughly cook their beef at higher temperatures, then they should have no worry of contracting bird flu.

The USDA provided the summary results of their study and subsequent advice, published on May 16th.

USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and Agricultural Research Service (ARS) are announcing results from the ground beef cooking study. The study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of cooking related to H5N1 and beef. Ground beef patties were inoculated with a very high concentration of an H5N1 virus surrogate. The ground beef patties did not previously contain any virus particles prior to inoculation for the purposes of the study.

No virus remained in burgers cooked to 145 and 160 degrees Fahrenheit. These results validate that FSIS’ recommended cooking temperatures are sufficient to kill H5N1 in meat.

The USDA wrote

Eric Deeble, the USDA’s acting advisor for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), said in a call with the press on the 16th said, “the USDA is confident that the meat supply is safe, and we have a rigorous meat inspection process in place.” He added that “in the interest of scientific inquiry and to further reaffirm consumer confidence, USDA scientists initiated a series of studies on ground beef and beef muscle samples,” he said.

However, when asked whether the virus was found in samples cooked at lower temperatures, he stated:

Cooking to – I believe it was 120° [F.] – showed that there was virus still in the cooked hamburger patty, but at much, much reduced levels.

[…] I believe that the recommended temperature for burgers is 160° internal temperature, but I don’t think that anybody needs to change any of the safe meat handling or safe cooking practices that are already recommended.

At the end of April, the USDA announced they would begin testing meat samples with PCR tests, the same tests commonly used during the Covid-19 era. Deeble said during the call that these tests are ongoing, saying “these results are forthcoming and we’ll share them as soon as they’re available.”

Separately, Rosemary Sifford, deputy administrator for veterinary services and chief veterinary officer at USDA, explains what the department believes triggered this recent outbreak in cattle:

“The information that we have about the epidemiology indicate[s] that the spillover event from wild birds into dairy cattle was likely somewhere in the late 2023 timeframe. The virus probably started to circulate in cattle shortly after that. All the evidence points to the fact that after that spillover event – in the Texas panhandle region – the movement to other herds since that time has been through contacts between those herds, whether that be movement of cattle or equipment or other items.

The same day the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced they would be gifting $22.2 million to certain groups “to enhance prevention, preparedness, early detection, and rapid response to the most damaging diseases that threaten U.S. livestock,” the agency said in a press release.

“APHIS plays an important leadership role in protecting against current and future threats to U.S. animal health, and these investments are key to supporting this work,” said Jenny Lester Moffitt, Under Secretary for USDA Marking and Regulatory Programs…