The Texas veterinarian who helped solve the mystery of bird flu in cows
AP News profiles Amarillo, TX veterinarian Dr. Barb Petersen. In early March, she started receiving calls from dairy owners who were concerned about crows, pigeons and other birds dying on their Texas farms. Then it was reported that barn cats had died suddenly, and within days, Petersen was hearing about sick cows with high fevers, a reluctance to eat and much less milk. Tests for typical illnesses came back negative, so Petersen collected samples from cats and cows and delivered them to Dr. Drew Magstadt at the veterinary diagnostic laboratory at Iowa State University. The samples sent by Petersen tested positive for a bird flu virus, known as Type A H5N1, that had never before been seen in cattle. “It was just a surprise,” recalled Petersen. “It was just a little bit of disbelief.”
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