Bird Flu Traces Emerge in Austin Sewage, Far From Dairy Farms - BNN Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Fragments of a potentially dangerous bird flu virus that appeared in Austin wastewater, miles from the nearest dairy farm, are sending researchers in a race to find the source.Texas researchers are tracing pieces of the H5N1 virus that were confirmed in Austin’s sewage last week to see if they came from infected farm animals, wild birds or dumped milk, Anthony Maresso, lead researcher of the Texas Wastewater Environmental Biomonitoring network, said in an email. Unreported human cases, while unlikely, are also a possibility, he said. “It is truly still a mystery,” said Maresso, who’s also a Baylor College of Medicine virologist. “The sequencing indicates there can be multiple sources.”Health officials are struggling to keep up with the flu virus that has been reported in 90 cattle herds nationwide. Three US dairy workers with mild symptoms have tested positive this year, one of them in Texas, and the risk to the public remains low. Still, bird flu has been known to cause...