H5N1 has been found in cattle herds across 12 states this year. Image: Justin Sullivan / Staff ( Getty Images )
A former director of the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is predicting that the next pandemic could come from the bird flu virus that is spreading rapidly among U.S. poultry and cattle.
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I really do think its very likely that we will, at some time its not a question of if, its more of a question of when we will have a bird flu pandemic, said former CDC chief Robert Redfield during an appearance on NewsNation on Friday.
Redfield served as director of the CDC during the COVID-19 pandemic, from 2018 to 2021.
He added, that once the H5N1 virus gains the ability to spread from human-to-human, thats when youre going to have the pandemic.
While H5N1 does not currently transmit between humans easily, the World Health Organization warns that as it spreads it has the potential to mutate to become more contagious.
H5N1 is a type of bird influenza virus that was first detected in 1996 in domestic water foul in Southern China. It is highly contagious among birds.
A new outbreak of the virus was first detected in 2020 among wild birds in Europe. It has since spread to domestic poultry and occasionally mammal species, such as foxes, sea lions, and cows.
In the U.S. alone, over 96 million commercial poultry and backyard birds across 48 states have been infected with the virus, according to the CDC. The USDA says cattle herds across 12 states have been affected.
So far, three humans who were all exposed to cattle have been infected this year, according to the CDC. All have since recovered. The CDC says the health risk of H5N1 to the general public remains low.
Earlier this month, the WHO reported the that first human death due to another strain of bird flu, H5N2, occurred in Mexico this May. It is currently unknown how the victim was exposed to the virus.
Bird flu snapshot: This is the first in a series of regular updates on H5N1 avian flu that STAT is publishing on Monday mornings. To read future updates you can also subscribe to STATs Morning Rounds newsletter.
Seth Berkley, the former head of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, gave voice last week to a point of view STAT has been hearing for a while about the U.S. response to the H5N1 bird flu outbreak in dairy cows. Its been shocking to watch the ineptitude, Berkley, an American currently living in Switzerland, said at an event on the future of vaccines held in London.
Berkley was talking, among other things, about the surveillance being done to try to get a handle on how widespread the outbreak has actually become. It has been nearly three months since the virus was first identified in cattle, and the country is no closer to an answer to that question. As of Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture had confirmed infections in 102 herds in 12 states; Iowa, one of the latest states to report infected herds, announced it had found two more that havent yet made it to the USDA list. To date three people all farmworkers have contracted the virus from cows.
Have any of the affected herds cleared their infections? If so, how many? The USDA couldnt answer those questions on Thursday. And yet Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack confidently declared at a press conference earlier this month that his department feels it knows how the virus is moving between herds and how to stop it. We are trying to essentially corner the virus, Vilsack said, despite the fact that operators of only 11 of the affected herds have applied for USDA help to improve biosecurity on their farms and defray testing costs.
The governments seeming inability to get farmers to disclose that they have infected animals has many worried observers wishing more states were doing what Michigans doing. True, it has more declared herds than any other state. But thats because its response is more robust, fans of the states approach say. One of our mantras is if you dont test for it you dont find it, the states chief medical executive, Natasha Bagdasarian, told STAT in an interview.
Scientists at NIAID found that heat treatment significantly reduces infectious H5N1 virus levels in raw milk, although small amounts can remain under certain conditions. This discovery is important amid a reported H5N1 outbreak in U.S. dairy cattle.
Research shows that heating raw milk greatly lowers H5N1 virus levels, but traces might persist. Despite concerns from a U.S. cattle outbreak, ongoing FDA evaluations maintain that commercial milk is safe.
Laboratory experiments show that the amount of infectious H5N1 influenza viruses in raw milk rapidly declined with heat treatment. The research was conducted by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
However, small, detectable amounts of infectious virus remained in raw milk samples with high virus levels when treated at 72 degrees Celsius (161.6 degrees Fahrenheit) for 15 secondsone of the standard pasteurization methods used by the dairy industry. The authors of the study stress, however, that their findings reflect experimental conditions in a laboratory setting and are not identical to large-scale industrial pasteurization processes for raw milk. The findings were published on June 13 in the New England Journal of Medicine.
In late March 2024, United States officials reported an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus called HPAI H5N1 among dairy cows in Texas. To date, 95 cattle herds across 12 states have been affected, with three human infections detected in farm workers with conjunctivitis. Although the virus so far has shown no genetic evidence of acquiring the ability to spread from person to person, public health officials are closely monitoring the dairy cow situation as part of overarching pandemic preparedness efforts.
Fresh milk on a farm. Given the 2024 multistate outbreak of H5N1 influenza among U.S. dairy cows, federal officials recommend against drinking unpasteurized (raw) milk. Credit: NIAID
Given the limited data on the susceptibility of avian influenza viruses to pasteurization methods used by the dairy industry, scientists at NIAIDs Rocky Mountain Laboratories sought to quantify the stability of H5N1 virus in raw milk when tested at different time intervals at 63 (145.4 degrees Fahrenheit) and 72, the temperatures most common in commercial dairy pasteurization processes. The scientists isolated HPAI H5N1 from the lungs of a dead mountain lion in Montana. Then they mixed these viral isolates with raw, unpasteurized cow milk samples and heat-treated the milk at 63 and 72 for different periods of time. The samples were then cell-cultured and tested to determine if live virus remained and if so, how much.
They found that 63 caused a marked decrease (1010-fold) in infectious H5N1 virus levels within 2.5 minutes and note that standard bulk pasteurization of 30 minutes would eliminate infectious virus. At 72, they observed a decrease (104-fold) in infectious virus within five seconds, however, very small amounts of infectious virus were detected after up to 20 seconds of heat treatment in one out of three samples. This finding indicates the potential for a relatively small but detectable quantity of H5N1 virus to remain infectious in milk after 15 seconds at 72 if the initial virus levels were sufficiently high, the authors note.
The scientists stress that their measurements reflect experimental conditions, should be replicated with direct measurement of infected milk in commercial pasteurization equipment and should not be used to draw any conclusions about the safety of the U.S. milk supply. Additionally, a limitation of their study was the use of raw milk samples spiked with H5N1 virus, whereas raw milk from cows infected with H5N1 influenza may have a different composition or contain cell-associated virus that may impact heat effects. The authors conclude that although gastrointestinal infections with HPAI H5N1 virus have occurred in several species of mammals, it remains unknown whether ingesting live H5N1 in raw milk could cause illness in people.
To date, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concludes that the totality of evidence continues to indicate that the commercial milk supply is safe. While laboratory benchtop studies provide important, useful information, there are limitations that challenge inferences to real-world commercial processing and pasteurization. The FDA conducted an initial survey of 297 retail dairy products collected at retail locations in 17 states and represented products produced at 132 processing locations in 38 states. All of the samples were found to be negative for viable virus. These results underscore the opportunity to conduct additional studies that closely replicate real-world conditions. FDA, in partnership with USDA, is conducting pasteurization validation studies including the use of a homogenizer and continuous flow pasteurizer. Additional results will be made available as soon as they are available.
Reference: Inactivation of Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus in Raw Milk at 63C and 72C by Franziska Kaiser, Dylan H. Morris, Arthur Wickenhagen, Reshma Mukesh, Shane Gallogly, Kwe Claude Yinda, Emmie de Wit, James O. Lloyd-Smith and Vincent J. Munster, 13 June 2024, New England Journal of Medicine. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMc2405488
A new Australian study has found that early exposure to the influenza B virus impacts how well a persons immune system can recognise new variants and protect against them later in life.
The findings indicate that individuals develop a stronger immune response to variants of influenza B (IBV) they were exposed to in childhood. As a result, their body will exhibit a stronger immune response for newer influenza B variants that share similar characteristics with strains that were circulating during their first 5 to 10 years of life.
The research provides strong immunological evidence to support previous epidemiological studies which found differences in susceptibility and severity of influenza infections based on year of birth.
Researchers analysed more than 1,400 serological samples collected from individuals born in Australia and the United States between 1917 and 2008. They measured the antibodies present in the samples and compared them to the IBV strains circulating globally between 1940 and 2021.
Using this comprehensive dataset, we discovered that the highest concentrations of antibodies in each sample generally corresponded with the dominant strain of influenza B virus that was circulating during that individuals childhood, says first authorPeta Edler, a research assistant in biostatistics at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity at Australias University of Melbourne.
Essentially, when it comes to influenza B virus infections, first impressions matter. The initial, early-life exposure to the virus appears to influence how the immune system responds to future influenza B viruses.
Influenza B viruses belong to either the B/Yamagata or B/Victoria lineages. They account for a substantial proportion of annual influenza cases and are the prominent circulating subtype of influenza every 4 to 5 years.
In the first 3 decades since its discovery in 1940, IBV circulated as a monophyletic lineage, referred to as Ancestral, the authors write in the study, which is published in Nature Microbiology.
In the early 1970s, a lineage (later designated as B/Victoria) appeared that was antigenically distinct from Ancestral viruses.
In the 1980s, a second antigenically distinct lineage emerged (designated as B/Yamagata), which predominated in the 1990s, with B/Victoria remaining confined to low levels within Asia.
Subsequently, the B/Victoria lineage re-emerged globally, and the two lineages co-circulated from the early 2000s until the putative extinction of B/Yamagata in 2020.
According to Marios Koutsakos, a Doherty Institute senior research fellow who led the study, establishing an immunological link between initial exposure to influenza B and long-term immune responses opens new pathways for vaccination and the public health response to manage risks.
Our research could help predict which populations are most at risk of disease during each flu season, which would guide the development of public health strategies targeting specific age groups, says Koutsakos.
Moving forward, we want to explore what drives this long-term immunity and find out whether our immune system behaves the same way following its first exposure to influenza A.
This work could uncover potential targets for the design of new vaccines, but also inform tailored immunisation strategies.
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WASHINGTON Scientists debated the origins of COVID-19 on Tuesday, trading barbs over whether the bulk of evidence available points to a natural spillover event from a wild animal or a virus designed in a lab and then let loose through an inadvertent leak.
The hearing in front of the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee was part of ongoing efforts in Congress to apply the lessons learned during the pandemic to prevent or blunt the next outbreak.
Gregory Koblentz, associate professor and director of the Biodefense Graduate Program at George Mason University in Virginia, said during thetwo-hour hearingthat debate continues in the scientific community about the origins.
The possibility that SARS-CoV-2 was deliberately developed as a biological weapon has been unanimously rejected by all U.S. intelligence agencies, Koblentz testified. While the intelligence community is divided on the origin of the pandemic, most of the agencies have determined that the virus was not genetically engineered.
Residents in Wuhan, China, were first diagnosed with an atypical pneumonia-like illness in December 2019, according to a COVID-19timelinefrom the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Initial cases all appeared linked to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market at the time, though there has since been much speculation about the types of research taking place at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Koblentz said he believes the available evidence points to a spillover event from an animal, though he added a research-related accident cant be ruled out at this time.
The lack of transparency and data from the Chinese government has significantly hindered scientists efforts to unify around the origin of COVID-19, he said.
Richard Ebright, board of governors professor of chemistry and chemical biology and laboratory director at the Waksman Institute of Microbiology at Rutgers University in New Jersey, testified he believes a large preponderance of evidence indicates SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, entered humans through a research incident.
Ebright also leveled criticism at fellow panelist Robert Garry, who, along with a handful of co-authors,published an opinion articlein the journal nature medicine in March 2020, titled The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2.
In the commentary, Garry and the other scientists wrote, we do not believe that any type of laboratory-based scenario is plausible.
Ebright said during Tuesdays hearing that the opinion article represented scientific misconduct up to and including fraud, a characterization that Garry rejected during the hearing.
The authors were stating their opinion, but that opinion was not well-founded, Ebright said. In March of 2020, there was no basis to state that as a conclusion, as opposed to simply being a hypothesis.
Garry, professor and associate dean of the School of Medicine at Tulane University in Louisiana, argued on behalf of the spillover event during the hearing, testifying that the virus likely didnt move directly from a bat to humans, but went to an unidentified intermediary animal.
The bat coronaviruses are viruses that are spread by the gastrointestinal route, Garry said. For a virus like this to become a respiratory virus its just going to require too many mutations, too many changes for a bat virus to spill directly over to a human being. That could only really happen in nature with replication through an intermediate animal.
Garry also defended gain-of-function research during the hearing, arguing that it has had some beneficial impact, though he noted that it does need appropriate safeguards and restrictions.
Lawmakers and pundits have used several, often evolving, definitions for gain-of-function research in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The American Society for Microbiologydefinesit as techniques used in research to alter the function of an organism in such a way that it is able to do more than it used to do.
When research is responsibly performed on highly transmissible and pathogenic viruses, it can lead to advances in public health and national security, Garry testified.
Without gain-of-function research, wed have no Tamiflu. Without gain-of-function research, we wouldnt have a vaccine to prevent cancer caused by infection by the human papilloma virus, Garry said. And without gain-of-function research, we wont be able to identify how novel viruses infect us. And if we dont know how they infect us, we cannot develop appropriate treatments and cures for the next potential pandemic creating virus.
New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan raised several questions about whether theres enough oversight of how the United States spends research dollars as well as what mechanisms are in place to monitor how private entities conduct certain types of research.
While their research has the potential to cure diseases and boost our economy, unless they accept federal funding, there is very little federal oversight to ensure that private labs are engaged in safe and ethical research, she said.
Koblentz from George Mason University said there is much less oversight of biosafety and biosecurity for private research facilities that dont receive federal funding.
In order to expand the scope of oversight to all privately funded research, (it) would require legislative action, Koblentz said.
Congress, he said, should establish a national bio-risk management agency that would have authority over biosafety and biosecurity regardless of the source of funding.
At the end of the day, it shouldnt matter where the funding comes from in terms of making sure this research is being done safely, securely and responsibly, Koblentz said.
Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul, ranking member on the committee, said the panel will hold an upcoming hearing specifically on gain-of-function research, including what steps Congress should take to ensure it doesnt put the public at risk.
Committee Chairman Gary Peters, a Michigan Democrat, said during the hearing that lawmakers must learn from the challenges faced during this pandemic to ensure we can better protect Americans from future potential biological incidents.
Our government needs the flexibility to determine the origins of naturally occurring outbreaks, as well as potential outbreaks that could arise from mistakes or malicious intent, Peters said.
Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, after listening to some of the debate, expressed exasperation that so much attention is going toward what caused the last pandemic and not on how to prepare for the next one.
Given the fact that it could have been either, we know what action we ought to take to protect from either, Romney said. And so why theres so much passion around that makes me think its more political than scientific, but maybe Im wrong.
The United States, he said, shouldnt be funding gain-of-function research and should insist that anyone who receives federal funding follow the standards of the International Organization for Standardization.
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Researchers from the Institut dInvestigaci en Atenci Primria Jordi Gol (IDIAPJGol) and the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a center promoted by la Caixa Foundation, have led astudy on the effectiveness of vaccines against COVID-19 among cancer patientsin Catalonia. Theresearch, recently published in the journalNature Communications,recommends administering additional doses of the vaccine among this risk population.
Cancer patientsare atincreased risk of death from COVID-19,especially those who have lung cancer, hematological malignancies or are undergoing systemic treatment, such as chemotherapy.
Theparticipationof patients with active cancer inclinical trialsthat have been carried out to test the effectiveness of vaccines against COVID-19 has been verylimited, so it has not been possible to know exactly the effectiveness of immunization against the SARS-CoV-2 virus among this risk group.
However,prospective datafrom several studies show thatcancer patients may develop fewer protective antibodiesto COVID-19 virus than the general population, especially after receiving a single dose of the vaccine.
The study that has just been published inNature Communicationsconfirms these results, based on theanalysis of massive data obtained from clinical registries. This is themost comprehensive work yet on this issueand thefirstof this kind withinformation from real-world data, providing a more realistic view of how vaccines are working in everyday clinical practice among people with cancer.
The researchers have analyzed the data of184,744 patientswith neoplasia included in the information system for the development of research in primary care (SIDIAP), the database that includes people treated at the first level of care in Catalonia. Half of the individuals included in the study (92,372) had received at least the first complete immunization (two inoculations of the vaccine) and the other half (92,372) had not been vaccinated at the time of the work.
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The results of the study show that therate of mortality and serious complications among cancer patients not vaccinated against COVID-19 is twicethat of those who have received the full first dose. However, this difference is smaller than the observed data among the general population immunized against SARS-CoV-2 and the non-immunized population.
Our results clearly demonstrate that vaccination against COVID-19 significantly reduces mortality and serious complications among cancer patients,especially those who have received the booster dose, highlighted ISGlobal researcherOtavio Ranzani, who supervised the study together withTalita Duarte-Sallsfrom IDIAPJGol.
For her part, this researcher explained that this work provides essential information to understand the impact of vaccination against COVID-19 on cancer patients, and helps to design public health policies that protect this vulnerable population.
Reference:Lazar Neto F, Mercad-Besora N, Ravents B, et al. Effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against severe COVID-19 among patients with cancer in Catalonia, Spain. Nat Commun. 2024;15(1):5088. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-49285-y
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The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly affected every aspect of daily life, including routine childhood vaccinations. Immunize Canada recognizes the importance of addressing concerns and providing insights into how the pandemic has influenced childhood immunization practices, its implications on public health, strategies to tackle vaccine hesitancy among parents, and the ground-breaking advancements in vaccine development that emerged during this crisis.
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted health systems worldwide, leading to widespread interruptions and gaps in routine immunization services for children. Lockdown measures, fear of contracting the virus, and strained health resources resulted in missed or delayed vaccinations for many children. Routine visits to health providers declined significantly, leading to a backlog of missed vaccinations. The closure of schools, which often serve as vaccination centres, further exacerbated the issue. Consequently, a substantial number of children fell behind on their vaccination schedules, leaving them vulnerable to preventable diseases.
The repercussions of missed or delayed childhood vaccinations extend beyond individual health outcomes to affect public health on a broader scale. Vaccination rates serve as a critical measure of community immunity (also known as herd immunity). When vaccination rates decline, the risk of outbreaks and resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases rises. Diseases such as measles, pertussis, and polio, which were once under control, may resurface and spread rapidly among unvaccinated/ under-vaccinated populations. This not only poses a threat to the health of children but also places a burden on health systems already grappling with the demands of the pandemic.
Vaccine hesitancy, fueled by misinformation, disinformation and distrust in vaccines, presents a significant challenge to public health efforts. To address this issue, it is essential to engage in transparent and clear communication, provide evidence-based information, encourage and develop community-led strategies and address concerns with empathy and understanding. Healthcare providers play a crucial role in building trust and providing accurate information about the safety and efficacy of vaccines. Tailored educational campaigns aimed at dispelling myths and addressing common misconceptions can help alleviate vaccine hesitancy. Fostering partnerships with community leaders and leveraging social media platforms to disseminate accurate information can further enhance vaccine acceptance and uptake. Communication and collaborations between specific communities and healthcare providers should be sought to better understand the barriers to vaccination and also optimize access.
The development of COVID-19 vaccines marked a monumental achievement in scientific innovation and collaboration. The unprecedented speed at which vaccines were developed underscores the power of investment in research, technology, and global cooperation during times of crisis. The mRNA vaccine technology demonstrated remarkable efficacy and safety profiles. This breakthrough has paved the way for potential applications in vaccine development for other infectious diseases, including influenza, HIV, and Zika virus, to name a few. The mRNA platform offers advantages such as rapid development, scalability, and versatility, making it a promising tool in the fight against emerging infectious threats.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching implications for childhood vaccinations, underscoring the importance of maintaining immunization services amid crises. Addressing missed or delayed immunizations, combating vaccine hesitancy, and leveraging lessons from COVID-19 vaccine development are crucial steps in safeguarding public health and ensuring a resilient health system for future generations. Immunize Canada remains committed to advocating for vaccination as a cornerstone of disease prevention and control, working towards a healthier and more resilient society.
Anne
Pham-Huy MD, FRCPC
Chair
Immunize Canada
Gaithersburg-based Emergent BioSolutions is officially leaving Baltimore after a tumultuous stretch that began when it was forced to ditch hundreds of millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccine over questionable quality standards.
The company had already laid off hundreds of workers and shuttered the Bayview plant in East Baltimore where those bulk doses were produced. And Emergent said Thursday that it would sell its other major Baltimore plant, located in the Carroll-Camden industrial area, to an affiliate of Bora Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd.
That plant was a fill center where it packaged drugs and therapeutics for market. Officials said all of Emergents 350 workers are expected to join Bora under the $30 million deal.
The decision to sell our Camden manufacturing facility is aligned with our multi-year plan to create a customer focused, leaner and more flexible organization, while we improve overall profitability and raise capital to reduce our debt, Joe Papa, Emergents president and CEO, said in a statement.
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We are working to ensure a smooth transition to Bora, especially for our Camden team and valued customers, over the coming weeks and months.
The company has been laying off workers and fending off lawsuits from shareholders since its COVID-19 vaccine debacle years ago. The suits claimed the company inflated its stock price while hiding manufacturing problems.
Emergent also faced an inquiry by the Congress Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis that showed its problems were deeper than initially disclosed. In all, about 525 million Emergent vaccine doses made had to be discarded, according to the congressional report.
The Biden administration had already canceled the federal contract, signed during the Trump administration, with Emergent to make the COVID vaccine, but the congressional panel said its finding confirmed the decision.
Federal inspectors found the company had insufficient processes and record keeping to ensure that vaccines were being made properly. Officials said at the time that the massive deals to make two kinds of vaccines at once, those developed by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, ended up being unrealistic.
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Johnson & Johnsons vaccine never caught on, and AstraZenecas was largely used overseas.
The company continues to employ workers elsewhere across the U.S., including in Maryland, and Canada, although other Emergent facilities have laid off hundreds of workers in recent years. That includes some 300 layoffs earlier this year when it said it would shutter the Bayview plant and another one based in Rockville. Last year, Emergent laid off about 230 workers in Maryland.
Emergents biggest product continues to be Narcan nasal spray, used to reverse opioid overdoses. It also has government contracts to produce smallpox and anthrax vaccines for the national stockpile.
The Camden deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2024.
In May, the company reported first quarter income of $9 million on about $300.4 million in revenue.
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The companys stock price, which peaked at $133 a share in 2020, was at about $6.38 in morning trading.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct the number of Emergents layoffs from earlier this year.
A new intranasal COVID-19 vaccine from the University of Georgia is heading to clinical trials. The company responsible for the vaccine is the UGA-based startup, CyanVac LLC, founded by Dr. Biao He, Fred C. Davison Distinguished University Chair in Veterinary Medicine and a faculty member in UGAs College of Veterinary Medicine.
CyanVac, which specializes in developing nasal, non-needle vaccines, will sponsor a randomized, double-blind Phase 2b study beginning this fall with 10,000 participants to compare the efficacy and safety of the intranasal vaccine against an FDA-approved mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine.
We are very excited about this opportunity to test a novel intranasal COVID vaccine whose technology platform has been developed at UGA, He said in a press release. The name of our vaccineCVXGAis a tribute to UGA and CVM whose support over the years made this possible.
The vaccine is sponsored through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Servicess Project NextGen, a federal initiative to advance new, innovative vaccines and therapeutics that provide longer lasting and more durable protection against COVID-19.
