May 10, 2024 – Cow udders have the identical receptors for influenza viruses as humans and birds, raising fears that cows could turn out to be “mixing vessels” that Bird flu Virus spread between people.
This is the results of a latest study conducted by scientists from the University of Copenhagen and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis and called a preprint study in bioRxiv.
The scientists examined tissue samples from the brain, airways and mammary glands of a small variety of cows and one calf. They stained the tissues and placed them under the microscope to see what variety of receptors would be found.
They discovered that the cows' udder pouches were equipped with flu receptors which might be present in each birds and humans. Bird flu viruses corresponding to H5N1 can bind to those receptors. These receptors were far less present within the cows' brain and respiratory tract tissue.
“These results provide a mechanistic rationale for the high levels of H5N1 virus in infected cow’s milk and demonstrate that cattle have the potential to act as a mixing vessel for novel [influenza virus] Generation,” the researchers write within the study.
When an animal acts as a mixing vessel, different strains of flu can exchange genetic material, creating latest varieties of disease.
Pigs might be infected with human and bird flu viruses and have previously been considered possible breeding grounds for viruses that would pose a pandemic threat, Stat News reported. The latest study suggests that cows could turn out to be breeding grounds for a bird flu pandemic.
“The new preprint convincingly shows that cows harbor both human flu and avian flu receptors in their mammary glands,” says Sam Scarpino, PhD, director of artificial intelligence and life sciences at Northeastern University. said on Xformerly referred to as Twitter. “Therefore, dairy cows *might* have the same potential as pigs to serve as evolutionary vectors between avian influenza and human influenza.”
Since the tip of March, infections in birds have been detected in 42 flocks in nine U.S. states, in keeping with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.