Important Takeaways:

• California, the biggest U.S. milk-producing state, on Thursday confirmed two human cases of bird flu in people who had contact with dairy cattle infected by the virus.
• The cases bring total U.S. bird flu infections among people in contact with dairy cows and poultry to 15 this year.
• The virus’ jump to cattle in 14 states and infections of farm workers have concerned scientists and federal officials about the risks to humans from further spread.
• There is no known link or contact between the two human cases in California, suggesting only animal-to-human spread of the virus in the state, the California Department of Public Health said in a statement.
• It said neither person reported respiratory symptoms nor was hospitalized.
• Scientists are watching closely for signs that the virus has begun to spread more easily in people.
• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday said it would begin testing raw cow’s milk intended for pasteurization at dairy plants to better understand the prevalence of the bird flu virus in milk.

Read the original article by clicking here.