US Testing Ground Beef for Bird Flu – Is Missouri Beef Affected?

We now know that the United States is testing ground beef for the bird flu. It is unclear however if Missouri beef is affected based on information that's been released so far.

Let's start with what we know. Forbes is among the media outlets reporting that the USDA is now testing ground beef samples for the deadly bird flu. Initially, reports said that the tests would be from ground beef from the nine states where there has been an outbreak of the bird flu among cattle like Kansas and Texas.

However, now the FDA says that bird flu testing has expanded to 38 states and includes dairy products. According to the Missouri Department of Agriculture, there have been 4 confirmed cases of backyard poultry bird flu cases in Dallas County in 2024 so far.

We also know that according to a report from KTTN that Missouri dairy cows must be tested for bird flu before they are allowed to travel to another state.

My understanding as of this writing is there is no testing of ground beef in Missouri for bird flu, but dairy products are almost certainly under the microscope (literally).

The USDA is also assuring consumers that they believe the ground beef supply is safe and that cooking all meet at recommended temperatures is still vital. As this is a developing story, it will be updated once new information is released as the government continues to try and contain the bird flu in the states.