Risk of bird flu spreading to cows outside US, says WHO

FILE PHOTO: Cows stand in their pen at a cattle farm in Rockford, Illinois, U.S., April 9, 2024. REUTERS/Jim Vondruska/File Photo

GENEVA (Reuters) - A World Health Organization official said on Tuesday there was a risk of H5N1 bird flu virus spreading to cows in other countries beyond the United States through migratory birds.

"With the virus carried around the world by migratory birds, certainly there is a risk for cows in other countries to be getting infected," said Wenqing Zhang, head of WHO's Global Influenza Programme at a Geneva press briefing.

She reiterated that the U.N. agency deems the overall public health risk posed by the virus to be low.

(Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Miranda Murray)