An outbreak of bird flu has been detected on a second farm in Sydney's north-west, with more than 86,000 chickens to be culled.
On Saturday the CSIRO's Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) confirmed the positive test result of the HPAI H7N8 strain of avian influenza in the Hawkesbury region.
The infected chicken meat farm is in the restricted biosecurity zone put in place after the virus was first found on Wednesday at an egg farm 1.5 kilometres away.
A total of 330,000 birds across the two farms will have to be destroyed.
The NSW Minister for Agriculture Tara Moriarty said the quick identification of the latest case was a sign the biosecurity measures, including proactive testing, were working.
She said that prior to Saturday, the chickens had no sign of infection and she was confident that all produce had been contained.
"That farm was already in a biosecurity zone ... I'm not concerned that product will have come out from that farm," Ms Moriarty said.
"But even if it has, chicken meat is safe for people to consume, so long as it's cooked in the usual way.
"We'll continue our tracing work for anything that has come out of either of these farms for the last couple of weeks, just to make sure that there hasn't been any spread."
She announced, however, the initial 1-2km containment area around the first confirmed site would be broadened out.
"We will be extending the biosecurity zone for another couple of kilometres to protect surrounding farms," she said.
"So the biosecurity rules that we have in place means that no product is coming in and out of that zone, no machinery is coming in and out of that zone.
"Everything has been cleaned and tested to make sure that it's safe before it moves ... people should be assured the industry is prepared for this."
The HPAI H7N8 strain is not the same as the H5N1 strain that is causing concern globally.
It is also not connected to the Victorian outbreak of the of the H7N3 and H7N9 strains, which has impacted seven farms in the state.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said the public shouldn't be concerned about the outbreaks.
"It's certainly something that the government is focused on," Mr Minns said in a press conference on Sunday.
"I don't think that there's a need to unnecessarily worry people about this particular strain of bird flu in the community.
"The firm advice from health authorities is that there's no risk to human consumption. But we have to be careful."
NSW Acting Chief Veterinary Officer Emily Doyle was confident with the current control measures but acknowledged it was early days.
"It's not unsurprising that we've had a second positive so early in the outbreak. We're still learning a lot about the disease," Ms Doyle said.
"We have epidemiologists working really hard to try and understand what's happening with the disease.
"It's playing out similarly to other outbreaks. But it's it's very hard in those early stages to make big predictions about what's going to happen with a new version of a disease."
HPAI has been eradicated from NSW three times before, the most recent being in Young in 2013.
Topline
Heres the latest news about a global outbreak of H5N1 bird flu that started in 2020, and recently spread among cattle in U.S. states and marine mammals across the world, which has health officials closely monitoring it and experts concerned the virus could mutate and eventually spread to humans, where it has proven rare but deadly.
A sign warns of a outbreak of bird flu.
June 25Finland said it plans to begin vaccinating vulnerable populations like farm workers against bird flu as early as next week using 10,000 vaccine serieseach with two dosesacquired as part of a European Union deal with vaccine maker CSL Seqirus to provide up to 40 million vaccines to 15 countries.
June 11The World Health Organization announced a four-year-old child in India was infected with H9N2 bird flua different flu strain from H5N1but recovered after suffering from seizures, respiratory distress, fever and abdominal cramps; H9N2 has infected around 100 people globally since 1998, and this is the second human case in India.
June 6Dozens of cows infected with bird flu have either died or been slaughtered in Colorado, Ohio, Michigan, South Carolina and Texas, which is unusual sinceunlike poultrycows cost more to slaughter and around 90% usually make a full recovery, Reuters reported.
June 5A new study examining the 2023 bird flu outbreak in South America that killed around 17,400 elephant seal pups and 24,000 sea lions found the disease spread between the animals in several countries, the first known case of transnational virus mammal-to-mammal bird flu transmission.
May 30Another human case of bird flu has been detected in a dairy farm worker in Michiganthough the cases arent connectedand this is the first person in the U.S. to report respiratory symptoms connected to bird flu, though their symptoms are resolving, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
May 23A new study with mice suggests that drinking infected milk can spread the diseaseand that a certain type of pasteurization may not always be effective in killing the virus.
May 22Michigan reported bird flu in a farmworkerthe second U.S. human case tied to transmission from dairy cowsthough the worker had a mild infection and has since recovered.
May 21Australia reported its first human case of bird flu after a child became infected in March after traveling to India, though the child has since recovered after suffering from a severe infection, according to the Victorian Department of Health.
May 16The USDA conducted a study, and discovered that after high levels of the virus was injected into beef, no trace was left after the meat was cooked medium to well done, though the virus was found in meat cooked to lower temperatures.
May 14The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released influenza A waste water data for the weeks ending in April 27 and May 4, and found several states like Alaska, California, Florida, Illinois and Kansas had unusually high levels, though the agency isnt sure if the virus came from humans or animals, and isnt able to differentiate between influenza A subtypes, meaning the H5N1 virus or other subtypes may have been detected.
May 10The Food and Drug Administration announced it will commit an additional $8 million to ensure the commercial milk supply is safe, while the Department of Agriculture said it will pay up to $28,000 per farm to help mitigate the spread of the disease, totaling around $98 million in funds.
May 9Some 70 people in Colorado are being monitored for bird flu due to potential exposure, and will be tested for the virus if they show any symptoms, the Colorado Department of Public Health told Forbesit was not immediately clear how or when the people were potentially exposed.
May 1The Department of Agriculture said it tested 30 grocery store ground beef products for bird flu and they all came back negative, reaffirming the meat supply is safe.
May 1The Food and Drug Administration confirmed dairy products are still safe to consume, announcing it tested grocery store samples of products like infant formula, toddler milk, sour cream and cottage cheese, and no live traces of the bird flu virus were found, although some dead remnants were found in some of the foodthough none in the baby products.
April 30Wenqing Zhang, head of WHO's Global Influenza Programme, said during a news briefing "there is a risk for cows in other countries to be getting infected," with the bird flu virus, since its commonly spread through the movement of migratory birds.
April 29The Department of Agriculture told Forbes it will begin testing ground beef samples from grocery stores in states with cow outbreaks, and test ground beef cooked at different temperatures and infected with the virus to determine if it's safe to eat.
April 24The USDA said cow-to-cow transmission may be occurring due to the cows coming into contact with raw milkand warned against humans and other animals, including pets, consuming unpasteurized milk to prevent potential infection.
April 18Jeremy Farrar, chief scientist for the World Health Organization, said during a press conference the threat of bird flu spreading between humans was a great concern, since its evolved and has increasingly been infecting mammals (on land and sea), which means it could possibly spread to humans.
April 1The CDC reported the second U.S. human case of bird flu in a Texas dairy farmer who became infected after contracting the virus from infected dairy cows, but said the person was already recovering.
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Bird flu doesnt transmit easily from person-to-person, according to the World Health Organization. Bird flu rarely affects humans, and most previous cases came from close contact with infected poultry, according to the CDC. Because human-to-human spread of bird flu poses pandemic potential, each human case is investigated to rule out this type of infection. Though none have been confirmed, there are a few global casesnone in the U.S.where human-to-human transmission of bird flu was thought to be probable, including in China, Thailand, Indonesia and Pakistan.
It is very deadly. Between January 2003 and March 28, 2024 there have been 888 human cases of bird flu infection in humans, according to a report by the World Health Organization. Of those 888 cases, 463 (52%) died. To date, only two people in the U.S. have contracted H5N1 bird flu, and they both were infected after coming into contact with sick animals. The most recent case was a dairy worker in Texas who became ill in March after interacting with sick dairy cows, though he only experienced pink eye. The first incident happened in 2022 when a person in Colorado contracted the disease from infected poultry, and fully recovered.
Raw, unpasteurized milk is unsafe to drink, but pasteurized milk is fine, according to the FDA. Bird flu has been detected in both unpasteurized and pasteurized milk, but the FDA recommends manufacturers against making and selling unpasteurized milk since theres a possibility consuming it may cause bird flu infection. However, the virus remnants in pasteurized milk have been deactivated by the heat during the pasteurization process, so this type of milk is still believed safe to consume.
The CDC warns against eating raw meat or eggs from animals confirmed or suspected of having bird flu because of the possibility of transmission. However, no human has ever been infected with bird flu from eating properly prepared and cooked meat, according to the agency. The possibility of infected meat entering the food supply is extremely low due to rigorous inspection, so properly handled and cooked meat is safe to eat, according to the USDA. To know when meat is properly cooked, whole beef cuts must be cooked to an internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit, ground meat must be 160 degrees and poultry must be cooked to 165 degrees. Rare and medium rare steaks fall below this temperature. Properly cooked eggs with an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit kills bacteria and viruses including bird flu, according to the CDC. It doesnt matter if they may or may not have [avian] influenza runny eggs and rare pieces of meat are never recommended, Francisco Diez-Gonzalez, director and professor for the Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia, told Forbes. To play it safe, consumers should only eat fully cooked eggs and make sure the yolks are firm with no runny parts, Daisy May, veterinary surgeon with U.K.-based company Medivet, said.
Symptoms of bird flu include a fever, cough, headache, chills, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, runny nose, congestion, sore throat, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, pink eye, muscle aches and headache. However, the CDC advises it cant be diagnosed based on symptoms alone, and laboratory testing is needed. This typically includes swabbing the nose or throat (the upper respiratory tract), or the lower respiratory tract for critically ill patients.
This years egg prices have increased as production decreased due to bird flu outbreaks among poultry, according to the USDA. A dozen large, grade A eggs in the U.S. costed around $2.99 in March, up almost a dollar from the fall. However, this price is down from a record $4.82 in January 2023, which was also spiked by bird flu outbreaks. Earlier this month, Cal-Maine Foodsthe countrys largest egg producertemporarily halted egg production after over one million egg-laying hens and chickens were killed after being infected with bird flu.
Once chickens have been infected with bird flu, farmers quickly kill them to help control the spread of the virus, since bird flu is highly contagious and fatal in poultry. The USDA pays farmers for all birds and eggs that have to be killed because of bird flu, as an incentive to responsibly try and curb the spread of the disease. The USDA has spent over $1 billion in bird flu compensation for farmers since 2022, according to the nonprofit Food & Environment Reporting Network.
The FDA has approved a few bird flu vaccines for humans. The U.S. has a stockpile of vaccines for H5N1 bird flu, but it wouldnt be enough to vaccinate all Americans if an outbreak were to happen among humans. If a human outbreak does occur, the government plans to mass produce vaccines, which can take at least six months to make enough for the entire population. CSL Seqirus, the maker of one of the approved vaccines, expects to have 150 million vaccines ready within six months of an announcement of a human bird flu pandemic. Although there are approved vaccines for other variants designed for birds, there are none for the H5N1 variant circulating. However, the USDA began trials on H5N1 animal-specific vaccines in 2023.
As of May 30, more than 92 million poultry (primarily chickens) in 48 states have been euthanized because of bird flu since 2022, and 57 dairy cow herds across nine states have tested positive, according to data from the CDC (unlike chickens, cows appear to recover from the virus). The USDA believes wild migratory birds are the original source of the cow outbreaks that recently has experts concerned it may mutate and spread more easily in humans, though the CDC said its risk to the public remains low. Farrar called the cattle infections in the U.S. a huge concern, urging public health officials to continue closely monitoring the situation because it may evolve into transmitting in different ways. The increased number of mammal bird flu infections since 2022 could indicate that the virus is looking for new hosts, and of course, moving closer to people, Andrea Garcia, vice president of science, medicine and public health for the American Medical Association, said. The first report of a walrus dying from bird flu was detected in April on one of Norways Arctic Islands, and the first U.S. dolphin infected with bird flu died back in 2022, according to a report published April 18. More than 10 human bird flu cases were reported to the World Health Organization in 2023, and all but one survived. Bird flu has devastated bird populations, and 67 countries reported the deaths of 131 million poultry in 2022 alone. Although bird flu typically infects wild birds and poultry, its spread to other animals during the outbreak, and at least 10 countries have reported outbreaks in mammals since 2022. Around 17,400 elephant seal pups died from bird flu in Argentina in 2023, and at least 24,000 sea lions died in South America the same year. Besides cattle, bird flu has been detected in over 200 other mammalslike seals, raccoons and bearsin the U.S. since 2022. Although rare, even domestic pets like dogs and cats are susceptible to the virus, and the FDA warns against giving unpasteurized milk to cats to avoid possible transmission.
On June 5, WHO confirmed the first human death of a strain of bird flu thats never before been seen in humans and is separate from H5N1. A 59-year-old man in Mexico contracted H5N2, and died on April 24 after being hospitalized and developing a fever, diarrhea, nausea, shortness of breath and general discomfort. Cases of H5N2 have been reported in poultry in Mexico, but the man had no history with poultry or animals, WHO said. Its unclear how he became infected. He was bedridden for weeks prior to the infection, and suffered from several other health conditions.
Another Bird Flu Variant Reaches Humans: What To Know About H5N2After First-Ever Confirmed Death
WHO Warns Threat Of Bird Flu Spreading To Humans Is Great Concern (Forbes)
One In Five Milk Samples From Across US Had Traces Of Bird Flu Virus, FDA Says (Forbes)
Can Pets Get Bird Flu? Heres What To Know (Forbes)
Avian H5N1 (Bird) Flu: Why Experts Are WorriedAnd What You Should Know (Forbes)
Three months since an outbreak of avian influenza in U.S. dairy cattle was declared, the country is failing to take the necessary steps to get in front of the virus and possibly contain its spread among cows, according to interviews with more than a dozen experts and current and former government officials.
The country still does not have a sufficient testing infrastructure in place, nor a full understanding of how the virus is moving within herds and to new herds, experts say. Government officials also have not secured the cooperation from farmers and dairy workers that would be required to rein in the outbreak.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has stated that its goal is to eliminate the virus, known as H5N1, from cattle. But that messaging has left scientists scratching their heads about how exactly officials plan to stop further transmission given that the impediments persist. Its also not clear whether the virus could burn out, or if cows are vulnerable to reinfection.
If that was the goal, we should have been doing a lot of other things from the beginning, said Seema Lakdawala, an influenza expert at Emory University. We could have been working toward that for the last three months, rather than trying to play catch-up now.
Other countries are taking notice. Last month, a committee of scientific advisers alerted the French government to the unprecedented situation happening 4,000 miles away, saying that while the start of the viruss spread among cows had not yet increased the threat to people, it was concerning enough that the government needed to take its own measures.
The situation is serious, Bruno Lina, a virologist and member of the committee, told STAT, noting that European countries were already expanding their surveillance systems to include cows. It has to be taken seriously in the U.S., and that is what we expect from the U.S.
But by just about all accounts, not enough is being done.
USDA maintained that its scientists, veterinarians, and animal health experts have been working at all hours, day in and day out to respond to the virus. The agency also said as it continues to increase outreach to raise awareness of the programs USDA has started, the agency expects testing to increase in the weeks ahead.
The actions we have taken to limit movements, improve biosecurity and encourage testing are expected to establish the foundation for eliminating this virus from the dairy herd, the agency said in a written statement provided to STAT.
The USDA said the agency is taking animal health and human health concerns seriously through a whole-of-government response.
Agency officials first announced the virus had infected dairy herds on March 25, though its perhaps been seven months since the outbreak actually started.
Further reading
To gauge the risk of the situation and assess the response, STAT spoke with a range of experts both in the U.S. and internationally. What emerges is a portrait of a threat that is steadily rolling along, yet also settling into what feels like a routine. Nearly every day, a few new herds are found to have infections, entrenching the virus deeper into the cattle population and expanding its footprint across more states. As of Wednesday, 129 herds in 12 states have reported infections, although those figures are widely assumed to be underestimates because many farmers are refusing to test. Three farmworkers, in Texas and Michigan, are known to have developed mild cases of H5N1, presumably from close contact with cows.
But if the dynamics of the outbreak havent changed, neither, experts say, has the forcefulness of the response.
While the situation presents both scientific and logistical challenges, a chief concern is that neither the government nor outside scientists know just how far and wide the virus has spread because critical data have either not been collected or transparently relayed. The government still does not have an adequate surveillance system in place to keep up with the outbreak, scientists say.
Agricultural authorities are still releasing only partial data from the genetic sequences of the viruses theyve sampled. There is not widespread testing of cows or of workers on dairy farms, leading to fears of missed infections, both bovine and human. Broad serology studies of either cows or people which could detect antibodies to H5N1 in blood and provide an estimate of the true scope of infections have yet to release results, though at least one is underway in Michigan.
These are all complaints that experts have been lodging for weeks, if not longer. The failure to address them, they say, is hamstringing efforts to track the virus, to contain its spread in cattle, and to see if its adapting in ways that could make it more likely to jump to people.
If you still cant determine the scale of the outbreak, and which states, what farms, what herds, are actually being affected, I dont see how you can possibly think that its containable, said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan.
USDA said that the agency provided sequencing data immediately to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and has made information publicly available. The agency also said it has sent epidemiological strike teams to Michigan and Iowa at the states requests.
Even if the outbreak seems to be following a pattern, that might not always be the case. Scientists note that H5N1 bird flu has forced regular rewrites to flu dogma since it emerged as a risk to people nearly three decades ago.
It doesnt appear that the overall animal outbreak is changing in character, as of yet, but its difficult to know because we have so little data, said Tom Inglesby, the director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, who, like several experts, argued that if this outbreak were playing out in another country, U.S. officials would be calling the response unacceptable.
Over the past few months, authorities have rolled out a number of interventions, trying, for example, to bolster protections for dairy workers and incentivize farms to expand surveillance. Theyve put up some money for farms to improve biosecurity measures and widen testing, though only a fraction of farms, including those with infected herds, have taken the government up on its offer. States are trying to give away personal protective equipment that could be worn in milking parlors, but again, few farms have expressed interest. Within a month of the identification of the outbreak, federal authorities started requiring testing of lactating dairy cows, though only when they crossed state lines, and even then, only a limited number per shipment, chosen by the farmer.
Agencies are trying to widen their approach. The CDC has started publicly tracking influenza A viruses the family to which H5N1 belongs in wastewater samples. And states are taking their own steps beyond quarantining infected herds. In Iowa, for example, agricultural authorities have started requiring testing of dairy cows around infected poultry flocks. Several states are requiring lactating cows to be tested for flu before they can be brought to fairs.
But the governments own data indicate the efforts have holes large enough for the virus to run through. In one USDA survey, 60% of farms acknowledged moving cows within a state even after the animals had started showing symptoms of infection. Federal officials have acknowledged theyre not getting much cooperation from dairy producers and workers.
The more we learn about H5N1, the more we understand that good biosecurity is a critically important path to containing the virus, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack wrote last week in an op-ed in the media outlet Agri-Pulse, calling on farmers to step up the use of PPE, limit traffic onto their farms, and increase cleaning and disinfection practices in their barns and milking parlors.
Its not [being] managed as a zoonotic disease that is a potential dynamic threat. It may well not become a pandemic. But I think its playing with fire.
Marion Koopmans, chief of viroscience at Erasmus Medical Center
H5N1 has been on scientists radars as a threat since the late 1990s, and over the years, it has managed to spill from wild birds into different mammalian species, causing infections that seemed more like one-offs. But an H5N1 strain that emerged a few years ago seemed to change the game. It has been carried by migratory birds to just about every corner of the world, decimating poultry flocks along the way and infecting more and more mammals. This version of the virus is the one that is transmitting among dairy cows.
The ongoing spread among cows raises particular concerns, not limited to the economic toll the virus could take on farmers by depleting cows milk or by preventing them from selling product. As the virus has spread, so too have fears that it could become an endemic pathogen in a species that has considerable contact with people, creating a lasting risk to dairy workers. Underlying it all is the grave concern that the virus could one day evolve in ways that make it better at spreading to and among people.
The virus is not there yet, and scientists say it would likely need to change in a number of ways for that to happen. But they believe the nature of the current spread could conceivably lay the groundwork for the next pandemic. Historically, the virus has had an alarmingly high fatality rate when it has caused human infections, though all three documented human cases that have emerged from the cattle outbreak have been mild.
Its not [being] managed as a zoonotic disease that is a potential dynamic threat, said Marion Koopmans, chief of viroscience at Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands. It may well not become a pandemic. But I think its playing with fire.
In some ways, experts say, the bird flu outbreak is exposing the same systemic obstacles that hobbled the U.S. performance during the Covid-19 pandemic. The response is falling on various local, state, and federal agencies with limited authorities and disparate, sometimes competing, agendas. In this case, its a balkanization compounded by the need for public health officials to collaborate with agricultural agencies, which are often tilted to supporting industry instead of prioritizing reining in threats to human health. State agricultural agencies are also underfunded and understaffed; meanwhile, some portion of the public is resistant to measures to track and control the virus.
There seems to be a lot of issues between the agencies, the federal government, the states, the farmers, said Florian Krammer, a flu virologist at Mount Sinais Icahn School of Medicine in New York. Its not looking like everybodys on the same side trying to get rid of the problem.
Many scientists acknowledge the tightrope that government officials are treading. Fearful of overstepping, agencies are reluctant to use the full extent of their legal authority to demand testing on farms something that could lead to a political backlash in an election year. Such a response would be perhaps all the more likely in a post-Covid pandemic world, and would impede whatever receptiveness farmers are showing.
Beyond the mistrust of government agencies some farmers harbor, dairy producers, working with slim margins to begin with, have real economic concerns. If they report an infected herd, they cant sell milk or move cattle, which are frequently transported for breeding and grazing. Veterinarians who have been working with farmers told STAT that while some infected herds have been cleared to return to milk production, farmers still fear what a positive test means for them. Given the risks, its easier not to test.
Even though Im disappointed by some of the things the federal government is doing, I understand the constraints theyre working under, said Andrew Pavia, the chief of pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Utah, who also works on public health preparedness. And even though Im disappointed by some of the barriers that farm associations and farmers are throwing up, I understand where theyre coming from. I think we need to work together to figure it out.
Thorny challenges stand in the way of looking for human cases as well. Private farms might not give public health agencies access, and even if they do, dairy workers might dodge testing. A positive test could mean missing work and lost income. Many farmworkers do not speak English, and may not have health insurance. A portion are presumed to be in the country illegally, aspects that discourage cooperation with health investigations.
Public health officials have made clear theyve run into these problems. A study of the first human case tied to the outbreak a Texas dairy worker who developed conjunctivitis reported that the man and his contacts refused to have their blood drawn for serology tests, which could have shown whether others were infected.
As of mid-June, just over 50 people had been tested for novel influenza strains, which would include H5N1, according to the CDCs most recent figures.
Do they get time off when theyre sick? If not, will they be willing to come forward to declare themselves feeling ill? Laszlo Madaras, the chief medical officer of the Migrant Clinicians Network, said during a webinar last week for rural providers, whom he stressed could be trusted sources of information for dairy workers.
Such dynamics give rise to the question of what an effective response should look like one that coaxes greater participation from farms, improves surveillance, and fits with what agencies are empowered to do.
Several experts said state and federal agencies, as well as rural doctors and veterinarians, need to conduct education campaigns, both to outline steps that dairy workers can take to prevent infections, and to explain to farmers how being transparent can help protect herds and the safety of the milk supply. Whatever steps are being proposed, they said, producers have to get on board if theyre to succeed.
Unless youve got 80% of the industry in a position to support you, you dont have the manpower, or the dollars, to dictate what youre going to do, said John Korslund, who worked as a USDA veterinarian for two decades. So its very much a cooperative effort. And if youre not in a position where you can get cooperation from the industry with what youre proposing to do, you cant do it.
USDA said the agency is working with the food and agriculture sector and hand in glove with state health officials to raise awareness about available resources. The agency has been hosting regular meetings to share updates and hear concerns, a spokesperson said.
The trust gap with farmers has continued even though some federal officials are well-connected to the dairy industry. Vilsack, for example, used to be a top-paid executive at Dairy Management, a trade association that promotes milk and dairy products.
Hes shown time and again that hes on the side of farmers, and, you know, particularly dairy farmers, right? said Brian Ronholm, Consumer Reports director of food policy and a former USDA food safety official. So if anyone can kind of reach that divide, it is someone like him.
Other ideas that experts called for included bulk testing of milk, which could narrow geographically where new outbreaks are occurring. So far, that is only being done voluntarily, by a tiny number of farms. Many said there needs to be testing of asymptomatic cows, as well as those showing signs of illness. Some scientists are arguing for vaccinating cows, though that is still a point of debate.
A USDA spokesperson said that the bulk milk testing is in its initial pilot phase and that six states are enrolled as of Tuesday: Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Texas, Ohio, and North Carolina. The agency is conducting outreach to provide more information about the program, the spokesperson said.
Some experts pointed to measures other countries are taking even though no other country has documented a cattle infection as steps that could help the U.S. get ahead of the virus.
There seems to be a lot of issues between the agencies, the federal government, the states, the farmers. Its not looking like everybodys on the same side trying to get rid of the problem.
Florian Krammer, flu virologist
Thijs Kuiken, a pathologist at Erasmus Medical Center, noted that Canada has made it mandatory to report suspected H5N1 cases in cows; in the U.S., only positive tests have to be reported to federal authorities. (Some states have also said suspected cases need to be reported.) Researchers in Germany have made public early results from serology studies in cows.
Its also a matter of money, many experts said. The government might simply need to pony up more resources both as a way to get access to farms for testing and to cover farmers losses if they have an infected herd and cant sell milk. Experts noted that the government pays poultry farmers for birds that need to be culled to contain H5N1 outbreaks in domestic flocks.
A program to cover some portion of lost milk production has been announced, but authorities are still ironing out the details. The program will be retroactive to the date herds were confirmed positive, the USDA said.
USDA anticipates that its forthcoming rule will specify that farmers will receive payments at 90 percent of lost production per cow, an agency spokesperson said.
Ultimately, though, there are constraints on the incentives agencies can offer. The Biden administration isnt likely to get any additional funding from a Congress split between Democrats and Republicans. Multiple senators said in brief interviews with STAT that administration officials havent asked for more resources.
John Auerbach, a former CDC official during the Obama and Biden administrations who is now a public health consultant at the firm ICF, said the administrations reticence to ask for more money is not surprising, given the difficulty that Congress has had simply keeping the government open.
I understand why the Democrats would be reluctant to open that can of worms up again, Auerbach said.
The USDA reiterated that the agency has approved a transfer of $824 million from a separate funding stream to support response efforts. The secretary of agriculture can authorize additional funding to address emergency outbreaks, like a previous $1.3 billion tranche approved to increase detection of avian influenza in wild birds and poultry.
Fundamentally, experts said, the U.S. needs a more coordinated response instead of the piecemeal approach its seen so far.
It only takes one state to be doing a really bad job or to be covering up or something for it to then be getting into further states, and the outbreak carries on, said Thomas Peacock, an influenza virologist at the Pirbright Institute, a British organization that focuses on controlling viral illnesses in animals.
For all the political and economic challenges, scientists have plenty of questions to answer as well.
For one, there is still not a comprehensive understanding of the way, or ways, the virus is spreading. The repeated use of milking equipment from cow to cow seems to be a key route, but scientists think there have to be other, undiscovered viral pathways that havent been specified beyond the movement of equipment, cows, and people from farm to farm.
The scientific specifics of this outbreak are also complicating the response. Many of the worlds top flu scientists have acknowledged they didnt think cows could get H5N1, a blind spot that delayed pinpointing the virus as the culprit behind a decline in milk production among cows in the Texas Panhandle. And while other mammals, with a few exceptions, havent spread H5N1 to others of their species, it seems the virus is moving quite efficiently from cow to cow, though likely with human help, via milking equipment.
The challenges go on. Cows, generally, arent getting that sick. The three related human cases have all been mild. Its easy for those types of incidents to be ignored or missed, giving the virus a chance to spread silently.
Scientists credited the government with policy changes that havent earned many headlines but that they say are helpful. A tweak in how the USDA classifies H5N1 has allowed additional researchers to study the virus, Emorys Lakdawala said. (They still need a USDA permit and must conduct the work in a high-containment lab.) More scientists are now trying to crack open some of the basics of the virus how it spreads, how its evolving, the quality and durability of immunity and its made it more feasible to do wastewater monitoring for the virus.
The CDC is also flagging to health care providers the possibility of human cases. The agency has encouraged clinicians to test people for flu even though in the summer the usual human flu strains transmit at very low levels.
Its really important when youre seeing a patient that might have acute respiratory illness or conjunctivitis, whether or not they have a fever, even if they appear to have clinically mild illness, you should ask them what they do, Tim Uyeki, the chief medical officer of the CDCs influenza division, said on the webinar for rural clinicians. What kind of work do they do? Do they have potential occupational exposure to an infected animal?
To some scientists, the situation on dairy farms is not some new threat, but rather an extension of one thats been building as H5N1 has swept around the world. While the outbreak stoked particular concerns such as cows close contact with people, and the risk to the milk supply they argued that the latest event has only highlighted how important it is for the world to give more attention to the virus broadly.
Arguably, the global spread of this virus over the last four years the fact that it has been jumping from species to species quite happily to me, that already felt like a big enough call to arms, said Colin Russell, an evolutionary biologist at Amsterdam University Medical Center and chair of a European network of influenza experts. We have to be very careful in the presentation of this, not as, Oh its in cattle, now theres going to be a pandemic, but more that this is just a further illustration of the potential of this virus and the fact that we need to be taking the whole H5 situation seriously, globally, he said.
Eric Boodman contributed reporting.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has begun testing more dairy products for evidence of the bird flu virus as outbreaks spread among dairy herds across the country.
More than 120 dairy herds in 12 states have tested positive for bird flu since March, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Federal officials have warned that further spread among dairy cows could heighten the risk of human infections.
The risk to the general public from bird flu remains low, federal officials have said, though it is higher for workers on dairy farms, who should wear personal protective equipment to reduce the risk of infection.
The focus of additional testing, which will sample 155 products, is to ensure that pasteurization inactivates the virus, said Don Prater, acting director of the FDAs Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, on a call with reporters.
Prior FDA testing of 297 retail dairy samples came back negative for evidence of the virus.
The agency continues to strongly advise against consumption of raw milk products, Prater said.
No infected dairy cow herds are known to be contributing to the raw milk supply, said Eric Deeble, USDAs acting senior adviser for its bird flu response.
More than 690 people who were exposed to infected or suspected infected animals have been monitored for flu symptoms, and 51 people who developed flu-like symptoms have been tested, Demetre Daskalakis, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preventions National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said on the press call.
Three dairy farm workers have tested positive for the virus with mild respiratory or conjunctivitis symptoms, and all have recovered.
The CDC is providing technical support to the state of Michigan as it begins serological testing of farm workers for signs of prior infection by the virus and will ensure the testing can be completed in other states, Daskalakis said.
The USDA is conducting research on how dairy cattle contract the virus through contact with infected milk or respiratory droplets, Deeble said.
The development of a bird flu vaccine for dairy cows is going to take some time, and the agency hopes to eradicate the virus in dairy cattle without the use of a vaccine, Deeble said.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told Reuters on June 12 that the agency is in talks with two dozen companies on the development of a bird flu vaccine for cattle.
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The multistate outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is gaining widespread attention, primarily because of the novelty of the infections and how theyre spreading.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the avian influenza A(H5N1) virus has been found in cows for the first time ever. The recently confirmed cases in humans are not unprecedented, but the probable mammal-to-human spread is a first.
The outbreak of HPAI among dairy herds was first reported by USDAs Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service on March 25. As of June 21, 12 states have reported confirmed cases of the disease in dairy cattle herds, according to the CDC. Those states are Texas, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, Idaho, Ohio, North Carolina, South Dakota, Colorado, Minnesota, Wyoming, and Iowa.
As for the spread to humans, there have been three reported human infections related to the ongoing outbreak, as of June 21. Although the first two infected individuals reported only eye symptoms, the latest case of infection also involved upper respiratory tract symptoms, according to the CDC. Each case followed exposure to dairy cows. The probable spread of HPAI from dairy cows to humans is an example of transmission of a zoonotic disease.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines a zoonotic disease as an infectious disease that has jumped from a non-human animal to humans. This jump, or transmission, can occur through various means, according to the CDC.
Common means of transmission are direct contact, such as exposure to bodily fluids of an infected animal, or indirect contact, such as contacting areas where animals live and roam. Zoonotic diseases can also be vector-borne (transmitted by a vector like a tick or flea), foodborne (transmitted by contaminated food), or waterborne (transmitted by contaminated water).
Some zoonotic diseases, like anthrax, are caused by bacteria. Others, such as rabies or HPAI, are caused by viruses. Still others can be caused by infectious agents like parasites.
In general, although anyone can contract a zoonotic disease, certain people are more at risk for infection. According to the CDC, those younger than 5 or older than 65 are more likely to get really sick or even die. The same goes for people with weakened immune systems and pregnant women.
Although there were certainly zoonotic diseases long before the 19th century, that is when the term for this type of disease was coined. According to the CDC, a physician and pathologist named Rudolf Virchow is credited with inventing the term zoonosis (another way to say zoonotic disease) to describe an infectious disease that passed between humans and animals. Virchows study of roundworms in swine is what got him curious about the link between human and veterinary medicine.
Currently, zoonotic diseases make up a majority of diseases in humans. Mohamed Shaheen, associate professor of microbiology at the National Research Centre in Cairo, Egypt, quantified this in his article The Concept of One Health Applied to the Problem of Zoonotic Diseases published in the scientific journal Reviews in Medical Virology. According to Shaheen, of the 1,400 infectious diseases that are known to affect humans, 60% of them originated in animals.
Zoonotic diseases are on the rise. The WHO has defined emerging diseases as those that appear in a population for the first time, or that may have existed previously but are rapidly increasing in incidence or geographic range. According to Shaheens research, 75% of emerging infectious diseases in the world are zoonotic.
Various factors have contributed to the growth of zoonotic diseases. In the scientific journal Animals, researchers from the Department of Biology, College of Staten Island, City University of New York recently outlined human-related activities that influence the spread of zoonotic diseases in the article The Impact of Human Activities on Zoonotic Infection Transmissions. The activities all relate to the expanding human population: urbanization, deforestation, tourism and zoos, wildlife exploitation and trade, and climate change.
Agriculture-related factors also drive the increase of zoonotic diseases. Those factors land-use change, food industry, and agricultural industry are all associated with the expanding human population and are unavoidable to keep the growing world fed. In the scientific journal Nature Sustainability, a group of researchers led by Jason Rohr quantified the relationship between agricultural factors and disease emergence in humans through time in an article entitled Emerging Human Infectious Diseases and the Links to Global Food Production. According to the groups work, agricultural factors were associated with almost 50% of the zoonotic diseases that emerged in humans since 1940.
Zoonotic diseases can have a large negative effect on groups of animals that become infected and, if applicable, the associated farms and farmers. The outbreak of HPAI is a current example. University of Minnesota Extension reported on March 29, just after the outbreak was announced, that the impacted dairy herds experienced up to a 20% reduction in milk production for a two- to three-week period. Needless to say, reduced milk production and the direct financial impact is not the only adverse result of the current outbreak.
The cost of zoonotic diseases on agriculture as a whole is far-reaching. Researchers from the China Academy for Rural Development and School of Public Affairs recently looked at the impact of zoonotic diseases in China on 24 main farm commodities from 2002 to 2017.
In the article, The Zoonotic Diseases, Agricultural Production, and Impact Channels: Evidence from China, which was published in the scientific journal Global Food Security, these researchers reported that, according to their research model, zoonotic diseases negatively impacted almost all main farm commodities: only 2 of the 24 commodities measured were not negatively affected.
The CDC offers several recommendations to lower your risks of zoonotic disease transmission:
The AgriSafe Network, a non-profit organization that strives to reduce health disparities found in agriculture, has these suggestions for farms:
According to the network, along with preventative measures, education and effective communication are crucial among farmers and farm workers. Understanding how the disease transmission process works, building a team, and effectively communicating within that team are essential in preventing the spread of zoonotic disease, according to the organization.
With a long history and increasing prevalence, zoonotic diseases will continue to be a fact of life in agriculture.
The H5N1 avian flu virus has been confirmed in 121 dairy herds to date and more infected herds are sure to be found as the search continues, said a USDA official on Monday as the outbreak in cattle entered its fourth month. The early summer heat wave will discourage farmworkers from wearing the full set of personal protective equipment recommended by health officials, said the dairy industry.
We expect that well see additional cases over the next few weeks as we do more testing, said Julie Gauthier, of the USDAs Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service during a webinar hosted by the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology. Thats to be expected.
The USDA is encouraging farmers to enroll in a voluntary program for weekly tests of milk samples taken from bulk coolers on dairy farms. In exchange, farmers would be free to transport lactating cows across state lines without having to test their cows beforehand, so long as the weekly tests are negative. Four herds one each in Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Texas have signed up for the so-called herd status program since enrollment opened on June 3.
So, next steps: Enrolling herds in the herd status program, encouraging them to come on board, said Gauthier, APHIS executive director of field operations. Were also hoping the ELAP program, which is being rolled out soon [and] will pay for milk loss associated with being an infected farm, will encourage herds to test and figure out what their status is.
The Emergency Livestock Assistance Program compensates producers for losses due to disease and bad weather. There is no limit on the amount of money paid to a producer but eligibility is limited to people with less than $900,000 in adjusted gross income annually, said aUSDA fact sheet.
The governments handling of bird flu in dairy cattle has been criticized for testing too few herds and for inadequate monitoring of dairy farmworkers.Three dairy workers have contracted mild cases of bird flu from cattle since the H5N1 virus was identified on March 25 as the cause of a mysterious illness in dairy herds in the Texas panhandle. The USDA requires farmers to test lactating cows for the virus before moving them across state lines.
The CDC recommendations of full PPE [personal protective equipment] for workers, probably were not going to be able to implement that on farms, said Jamie Jonker, chief scientific officer at the National Milk Producers Federation. When you think about how the weather has been very recently in large portions of the country, being in full PPE, you start getting a potential worker safety issue of overheating.
Instead, Jonker said were focusing on the eyes, nose, and mouth as as the place we need to focus our efforts in the dairy sector based upon current knowledge. The dairy industry already recommends use of goggles in milking parlors.
Gloves, masks, face shields, and disposable coveralls are other means to prevent infection. Testing has found a high viral count in raw milk from infected cows. Conjunctivits, also called pink eye, was a common symptom among the three farmworkers who became ill with bird flu.
The third human case of bird flu was identified in June, making it the second case in Michigan and the third associated with an ongoing, multi-state outbreak of bird flu in dairy cows. All human cases have been found in dairy farm workers exposed to infected cows.
In turn, U.S. federal and state agencies are planning to conduct research into potential respiratory spread of bird flu among dairy cattle. Last week, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development began to offer dairy operations with bird flu up to US$28,000 to work with federal and state government agencies to investigate how bird flu was introduced into their operations to research how the virus spreads. This correlates with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) recommendation for heightened testing for influenza this summerespecially influenza A virus.
Since 2020, bird flu has become endemic in bird populations, causing an animal pandemic affecting at least 26 mammal species, The Lancet reported. It spread to dairy cows this year, and as of June 20, bird flu has been confirmed in 115 dairy cow herds across 12 U.S. states, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. In response, 24 companies are working to develop a bird flu vaccine for cattle, Reuters reported.
Tests so far indicate that the virus detected in dairy cattle is the same clade that has been affecting wild birds and commercial poultry flocks. The same virus has also been sporadically detected in several species of wild mammals, including mice and neonatal goats. The virus has also affected domestic animals, with sick or dead cats testing positive for bird flu on dairy farms. Alpacas, which were near bird flu-affected poultry, also tested positive.
A growing concern across the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed bird flu cases in humans in India, Australia, and Mexico. But the virus has not spread easily among humans, with 893 human casesincluding 11 this yearreported since 2003, WHO reported.
By Luke Andrews Senior Health Reporter For Dailymail.Com 19:01 26 Jun 2024, updated 23:31 26 Jun 2024
Ice cream, butter and cheese are among the latest products set to be tested for bird flu by the FDA amid a rampant outbreak in dairy cows.
In a release, the agency revealed it would swab 155 products bought from grocery stores nationwide for traces of the H5N1 virus.
If any are positive for the virus, further tests will be carried out to determine whether the virus inside them is 'alive' or able to cause an infection in humans.
The expanded testing builds on previous, which found the virusin grocery store milks, cottage cheeses and sour creams, but in every case, the virus was 'dead' and unable to cause an infection in humans.
Ground beef, infant formula and powdered milk were also all swabbed for the virus and all tested negative.
More than 120 dairy herds across the US have now tested positive for bird flu, triggering increased concerns among health officials over the virus entering this country's food supply.
Officials have so far suggested the risk to the public is 'low' because dairy products are pasteurized where milk is quickly heated to 162 degrees Fahrenheit (72 Celsius) and then cooled to kill off any dangerous pathogens.
Tests have shown bird flu virus fragments found in products do not multiply in lab experiments, revealing they are 'dead' or unable to make copies of themselves and infect humans.
Those who drink raw milk and its products, however, are at risk because the products are not pasteurized and could still contain 'live' virus.
Officials have urged people not to consume raw milk or any product containing it.
But the alarm has had the opposite effectfor many, with data suggesting sales of raw milk have jumped 21 percent. One farm in California says it can barely keep the milk on its shelves.
And fitness and stay-at-home-mom influencers are encouraging people to drink raw milk products.
There have been no recorded cases of people catching bird flu after eating dairy products from grocery stores or ground beef.
But in April, a former FDA official warned DailyMail.comthere was a risk of contracting the virus from steaks that were not cooked enough saying the virus could survive cooking in the center of the meat and then be consumed by people.
In addition to the new products, the FDA said in the press it would also test more samples of pasteurized milks, cheeses and cream cheeses.
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It will collect samples from stores across the US, including in states where testing has not been carried out, and take them to its labs to be screened for the virus.
Previously, 300 samples of milks and cream cheeses were tested from states including New York, New Jersey, California and Texas.
Of these, 60 or 20 percent were found to contain the virus.
The FDA did not release the names of the bird flu-contaminated products andsaid it plans to release the full results in the 'near future'.
No infected dairy cow herds are known to be contributing to the raw milk supply, said Eric Deeble, USDA's acting senior adviser for its bird flu response.
Three dairy farm workers have caught bird flu in the US so far this year, one in Texas and two in Michigan. All three worked closely with cattle infected with the virus.
The CDC says it has monitored 690 people who were exposed to animals suspected or confirmed to be infected with bird flu, officials say.
Fifty-one people who developed flu-like symptoms have also been tested.
Research into Finnish outbreak revealed genetic adaptations.
The vulnerability of fur farms to avian influenza viruses could increase the virus pandemic potential, a new study has suggested.
Between July and October 2023, the H5N1 strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) was confirmed in fur animals on 27 fur farms in Finland.
Although some of the infected mammals were asymptomatic, in others it caused fatal pneumonia and meningitis. Neurological symptoms were more common than respiratory symptoms.
In response to the outbreak, authorities in Finland quickly implemented control measures, including culling infected animals and introducing stronger biosecurity requirements on fur farms.
Analysing virus samples, the researchers found that the outbreak was likely caused by large-scale direct exposure to infected wild birds. According to the researchers, this highlights the importance of robust biosecurity measures.
The analysis also revealed genetic mutations which are associated with increased adaptability to mammals. During the outbreak, there was likely transmission of the virus between fur animals.
The genetic adaptions mean that outbreaks in fur farms could potentially pose a future risk to human health, the researchers suggest.
The study concluded: Although prevention of outbreaks is the main target, improving preparedness and response capacity of both fur farms and authorities is essential, as well as being alert for any increase in mortality on the farms.
Virological surveillance designed for early detection of outbreaks is an essential part of disease control and we recommend active monitoring, especially when HPAI is found in bird populations in the vicinity of animal farms.
The importance of implementing safer fur farming practices is highlighted by the observations of genetic changes during the outbreak associated with mammalian adaptation, which may increase the pandemic potential of the circulating avian influenza viruses.
The study has been published in the journal Eurosurveillance.
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Over the past few weeks, Google searches for the term FLiRT have increased by 98%. The spike in interest is due to the fact that SARS-CoV-2 the virus that causes Covid-19 continues to mutate. In April, a group of new viral strains called FLiRT variants was identified.
The term FLiRT comes from the technical names for their mutations. This is the term being used to describe a whole family of different variants including KP.2, JN.1.7, and any other variants starting with KP or JN that appear to have independently picked up the same set of mutations, explains the Johns Hopkins University.
According to an article from Yale University, to better understand how the FLiRT strains emerged, it is useful to see how the SARS-CoV-2 virus has changed over time, with new variants forming as mutations emerged in its genetic code. The article explains that the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, which took hold in the United States in 2021, gave rise to various subvariants, including JN.1, which was identified in September 2023.
FLiRT variants have become a significant concern in the United States due to their ability to spread rapidly and evade acquired immunity, both from previous infections and vaccines. Indeed, the variants are of such great concern, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now closely monitoring them.
The KP.3 variant comes from JN.1.11.1, a direct descendant of JN.1. The main concerns over the KP.3 variant are due to its genetic mutations, especially in the spike protein, which is crucial for the virus entry into human cells. These genetic mutations have led to a rapid increase in Covid-19 cases in densely populated regions, with California one of the most affected states in the United States.
Johns Hopkins University reported: At the end of March, the KP.2 variant was causing about 4% of infections in the U.S., according to the CDC, while its parental strain, JN.1, was causing over 50% of infections at that time. As of early May, KP.2 makes up about 28% of infections, overtaking JN.1 as the dominant variant. Now KP.3 is gaining ground.
Based on estimates from California Department of Public Health model, KP.3 is expected to be the dominant variant (41.9%).
People of different ages in the U.S. have been affected by the recorded Covid-19 cases due to the KP.3 variant. Some specialists say that, even if a person has had JN.1, they can become infected with the KP.3 variant, especially if their last infection with Covid-19 occurred several months ago.
At this time, common symptoms of the new Covid-19 KP.3 and other variants of the FLiRT strain are:
Californias Department of Public Health continues to recommend vaccination as the primary strategy to reduce the risk of severe illness, hospitalization, and death from Covid-19. But there are other easy measures to follow too:
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