CHICAGO, April 5 (Reuters) - Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures plunged on Friday to the lowest point since mid-January as concerns about beef demand amid reports of avian influenza in cattle sparked fund long liquidation ahead of the weekend.

Technical selling accelerated the market's drop as prices fell below lows posted earlier in the week.

Despite assurances from some government officials that food supplies are safe, investors worried that negative headlines about the widening spread of bird flu in dairy cattle could dent consumer appetites for beef.

With futures markets closed until Monday's trading session, investors exited long positions in case more negative news breaks over the weekend.

"The funds are moving in a safe-haven play because the headlines on the news wires," said Mike Zuzolo, president of Global Commodity Analytics.

U.S. officials said Thursday that bird flu has infected a dairy herd in Ohio for the first time and was detected in additional herds in Kansas and New Mexico. The U.S. CDC issued a bird flu health alert on Friday.

CME June live cattle tumbled to a low of 171.400, its lowest since Jan. 16, and settled down 3.800 cents at 172.050 cents per pound.

Feeder cattle futures followed live cattle lower, with actively traded May futures down 5.700 cents at 238.175 cents per pound.

While both cattle markets ended more than 4% lower in the week, CME lean hog futures rallied on to new highs on Friday in a fifth straight session of gains on robust demand for hogs and pork.

The U.S. Agriculture Department's estimated the pork carcass cutout value rose this week to a six-month high.

Actively traded June hogs reached a contract high of 108.00 cents per pound and settled up 2.900 at 107.900 cents per pound. May 2024 through October 2024 contracts also posted lifetime highs on Friday.

(Reporting by Karl Plume; Editing by Alan Barona)