USDA Tests Find No Bird Flu in Properly Cooked Burgers

Experiments found no virus in beef cooked to at least 145 degrees Fahrenheit.

Burgers are cooked on a grill at a restaurant in Baghdad, Iraq, on June 25, 2019. Khalid al-Mousily/Reuters

U.S. researchers found no bird flu in ground beef inoculated with influenza and cooked to medium or well-done levels, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on May 16.

USDA scientists took a surrogate of the highly pathogenic avian influenza A strain H5N1 and injected it into ground beef patties. They then cooked the patties to varying temperatures.