(Radio Iowa) - Iowa State University researchers say a sugar molecule they've found in the mammary glands of cattle is the so-called receptor that transmits highly pathogenic avian influenza.
Professor Todd Bell, in I-S-U's veterinary pathology lab, says their study could lead to measures that prevent the spread of bird flu, which has infected more than a dozen large herds of dairy cattle in northwest Iowa in recent weeks. Ames researchers are working under the hypothesis milking machines may be spreading the virus from cow to cow.
If they confirm it, Bell says halting the transmission may be as simple as thoroughly disinfecting machines prior to use. Milk sold in grocery stores and by other retailers is pasteurized, and the F-D-A and dairy industry are stressing there's no threat to the milk supply because the pasteurization process neutralizes viruses.