US pledges money and other aid to help track and contain bird flu on dairy farms

U.S. officials pledged nearly $200 million in new spending and other efforts Friday to help track and contain an outbreak of bird flu in the nation's dairy cows. The outbreak of the virus known as Type A H5N1 has spread to 42 herds in nine states. The new funds include $101 million to continue work to prevent, test, track and treat animals and humans potentially affected by the virus. And they include about $28,000 each to help individual farms test cattle and bolster biosecurity efforts to halt the spread of the virus. The risk to the public from the outbreak remains low, officials said.