Category: Flu Virus

Millions of birds around the country are being culled by farmers as an outbreak of avian influenza, or bird flu, continues to spread and infect other species like cattle.

Crews in Sioux County, Iowa were forced to dispatch a flock of 4.2 million egg-laying chickens, according to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. Its the first backyard or poultry case in the state this year. Last week, another 1.4 million chickens were euthanized at an egg farm west of Minneapolis due to bird flu.

It's always a concern when we see this virus enter a flock of that size. Unfortunately, the mortality rates with this virus approach 100 percent, so the humane thing to do is to euthanize, depopulate these birds before they have to suffer, Dr. Brian Hoefs, state veterinarian with the Minnesota Board of Animal Health told MPR News Wednesday. He also notes that Minnesota is the largest turkey producer in the country.

This bird flu season is a little bit later than we would expect, Hoefs said. The migration has moved through and we thought we were somewhat in the clear but it appears that it's hanging around. The virus is in the environment, it's in local birds and we're expecting this to drag out a little bit more than it had.

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Earlier this spring, a young goat in Stevens County, Minn., contracted the disease the first detection in U.S. livestock. Theres also growing concern over the pathogen being present in dairy milk supply. The Centers for Disease Control recently reported two cases of an avian influenza strain infecting humans; Hoefs says there are many lingering unknowns. The presentation of disease like mild pinkeye, he said, was unconventional for an influenza virus.

Mitigation is a matter of biosecurity, biosecurity, biosecurity, Hoefs said. That includes poultry farm workers not sharing equipment and frequently cleaning and disinfecting themselves when entering and exiting barns. Minnesota also has a robust surveillance program, including weekly testing for birds close to a positive flock to curb any local spread. Before going to a processing plant and market, a sample from each barn must be tested for disease.

When a sample turns up positive, the Board of Animal Health partners with the Department of Health to form an incident management or emergency response team, getting boots in the barn to interview and test workers as necessary.

The Board also offers resources regarding biosecurity for poultry producers, workers and the general public to keep themselves, fowl and other animals healthy. Symptoms of avian influenza in birds include loss of coordination, trouble breathing, tremors, conjunctivitis, trouble keeping upright and the inability to fly, as well as several flock deaths in a short period of time. If you suspect a case of bird flu, call your veterinarian.

Flock owners can also call the Avian Influenza Hotline at 833-454-0156 or report bird illness online. The Minnesota Farm and Rural Helpline also offers support for flock owners and workers.

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Update on bird flu in Minnesota as pathogen spills into other populations - MPR News

State and public-health officials on Thursday confirmed that a farmworker with respiratory symptoms had tested positive for the avian flu virus spreading through U.S. dairy herds. Its the third confirmed human case amid the current outbreak.

The worker, who was exposed to infected cows at a Michigan dairy farm, is the first known human case of this outbreak with respiratory symptoms. The prior two infected workers had eye symptoms. The newly infected worker had a cough.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the risk the virus poses to the general public remains low. The case is the second in Michigan, where public-health and agriculture authorities have been responsive to the virus, and are closely monitoring farmworkers who have been exposed to infected animals.

Michigans chief medical executive, Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, said in a statement that the worker had been exposed directly to an infected cow, and had not been wearing personal protective equipment. No one in the workers household has developed symptoms, and the CDC said that there is no indication of person-to-person spread.

The discovery of a worker with respiratory symptoms due to an avian flu infection is a notable development in the dairy cow outbreak, but Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told Barrons Thursday that it wasnt unexpected.

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Cases like this are not surprising, Osterholm said. Weve seen that throughout the history of H5 infectionthat there are occasional human cases of flulike illness that occur among these people that are exposed. The real concern is when we see person-to-person transmission. And theres no evidence here at all of that.

Osterholm said that he had seen additional information about the new case that had not yet been made public, and that the level of virus seen in the throat swab from the patient was very low. He said that government scientists were having trouble sequencing the virus from the infection because there was so little of it in the sample.

We need to continue to monitor whats happening here, Osterholm said. In the absence of any evidence of person-to-person transmission, I dont see this as any kind of a game-changer.

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The CDC said that one of the specimens collected from the patient had tested positive for influenza A(H5) virus at a state health lab. The CDC confirmed the results on May 29.Additional testing is ongoing to confirm that the virus is H5N1, and not a related virus.

Given the extent of the spread of this virus in dairy cows, additional human cases in people with higher risk exposures would not be surprising, CDC said in a statement.

The news of the additional case comes amid preparations for a possible human vaccine for the avian influenza virus.

Last week, federal officials said that they had begun the process of converting 4.8 million doses of avian influenza vaccine from bulk stockpiled product to finished doses ready to be administered. They also said they were in discussions with Moderna and Pfizer

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Nearly 70 dairy herds have tested positive for the virus since the outbreak began, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Write to Josh Nathan-Kazis at josh.nathan-kazis@barrons.com

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Bird Flu Confirmed in Third Farmworker. The Symptoms Include a Cough. - Barron's

Cats are getting and dying of bird flu. Thats sparking worries about the risk that the ongoing outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza poses for these feline furballs and their owners.

This outbreak has been sickening and killing wild birds and poultry in the United States since 2021 (SN: 5/16/24). H5N1 has also jumped into a wide variety of mammals, including farm animals such as goats, dairy cattle and, most recently, four alpacas in Idaho (SN: 3/6/23; SN: 4/3/24).

When bird flu viruses infect mammals, the viruses can get random mutations that help them replicate better in mammalian cells. That raises the possibility that the avian influenza could adapt to spread easily in people.

Theres no sign that the virus has developed the type of changes needed to transmit easily from person-to-person yet, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported May 24. Most people who have gotten infected so far have been those with close contact with poultry or cattle.

But having bird flu show up in domestic cats might give the virus a more intimate route for infecting people. After all, people dont usually cuddle chickens and cows the way they do kitties.

Heres what is and isnt known about H5N1 bird flu in cats and other common pets.

Outdoor cats may get infected after catching wild birds, says Meghan Davis, a veterinarian and environmental epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Whether they eat them or not, that could be sufficient contact.

The diet people feed their pets could also put cats at risk. Raw meat diets, and specifically raw poultry diets, have been associated with some of these cases, she says.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has found viral particles in muscle and other tissue from a dairy cow that was being culled, the agency said May 24. None of the meat entered the food supply, but the incident highlights that raw beef might contain the virus. (For anyone worried about their summer cookout, cooking burgers spiked with H5N1 to 145 Fahrenheit (medium) or higher was enough to inactivate the virus, the agency says.)

Water, footwear or equipment contaminated with bird droppings also might be potential sources of infection, according to the World Organization for Animal Health.

And now, raw milk milk that hasnt been pasteurized to kill bacteria and viruses has become an avenue for infection after H5N1 showed up in dairy cattle. Raw milk, some of which is labeled for pet use only, could be a way that indoor cats that dont have contact with wild birds or poultry could get infected, Davis says.

Some evidence suggests that cats might be able to pass the infection to each other, she says.

Yes. Death rates from H5N1 infections in cats appear to be high.

This year alone, more than 16 cats in the United States are known to have contracted H5N1 bird flu, most of them on dairy farms, according to the World Organization for Animal Health. At least four have died. In 2022 and 2023, at least 13 cats got bird flu and about half died. Some were cats on poultry farms or that had contact with backyard chicken flocks that were infected with the virus, but some were domestic cats that somehow got sick.

The virus has also killed at least 22 mountain lions and sickened at least 10 bobcats, killing at least seven of them. A captive leopard in New York and a captive tiger in Nebraska also died of bird flu.

The numbers of infections likely is higher. For instance, about half of two dozen cats that were fed raw milk from infected cattle on one Texas farm earlier this year died, researchers report in the July 2024 Emerging Infectious Diseases. Those cats were not included in the World Organization for Animal Health report.

Symptoms before the cats deaths included stiff body movements, wobbliness, circling, runny noses and blindness. Researchers examined two of the dead cats and found evidence that the virus had infected their whole bodies. But it may have been brain infection that killed the cats. Unfortunately, its not great news if we get to that point, Davis says.

Its possible, but the risk is probably low. In 2016, after working with cats sickened with a different type of bird flu, a veterinarian in New York City became ill, researchers reported in Clinical Infectious Diseases in 2017.

Its rare but possible for people to catch bird flu from pets, farm animals or wild animals, the CDC says. A dairy farm worker in Texas and one in Michigan both got mild eye infections this year after contact with infected dairy cows (SN: 5/16/24). In the Michigan case, the worker got splashed in the face with raw milk containing the virus.

On May 30, the CDC announced that another dairy farm worker in Michigan got sick after contact with infected cows and developed respiratory symptoms, including a cough and watery eyes. That case was from a different farm where the person with the eye infection worked. The coughing dairy worker is isolating at home and their family and coworkers have not developed symptoms, the agency said.

Farm workers may be younger and healthier than the average person, Davis says. Less clear is whether really susceptible people, such as older people or ones with weakened immune systems, who live with cats might have a higher risk of getting infected, she says.

The exact odds of catching bird flu from animals hasnt yet been established, even for workers exposed to large numbers of sick cattle or poultry. But public health agencies stress that the risk of getting bird flu is low for people who arent exposed to infected birds and their droppings or to infected animals.

Yes. Dogs are probably susceptible to getting bird flu, Davis says. Their canine cousins red foxes have frequently been victims of H5N1.

In one study of dogs, four of 194 hunting dogs that had retrieved waterfowl developed antibodies against H5N1 bird flu, researchers report in the June 2024 Emerging Infectious Diseases. That suggests that dogs can get infected with bird flu. None of the dogs got sick and they didnt pass the virus to other dogs in their households, the team found.

Other small mammal pets, especially ferrets or mink, are also vulnerable.

Keep cats inside away from birds, Davis advises. For cats that go outside, limit their exposure to bird feces, she says. Keep the bird feeders out of the catio.

The World Organization for Animal Health advises cleaning shoes after walking in places where there are bird droppings, disinfecting surfaces where shoes are stored and keeping shoes away from cats.

Dont feed cats food, especially raw poultry and milk, that might contain live bird flu virus, Davis says. The bottom line is not feeding raw milk products to pets is as important as not consuming them yourselves.

There are no bird flu vaccines available for cats right now.

Dont touch the bird if you can help it. If you have to move the bird, put on a mask and gloves and goggles, Davis says. If you dont have protective equipment a stick and a box will do. Wash your hands after handling the bird.

Monitor the cat and notify your vet if symptoms appear. The incubation period in cats tends to be short, with symptoms appearing two to three days after infection.

If you notice large numbers of dead birds or other animals, Davis advises notifying animal control authorities. Many states will have either a state wildlife veterinarian or other reporting hotlines for dead wild animals, she says. Those agencies can do testing to see if H5N1 is present and can dispose of the dead birds or animals.

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Bird flu can infect cats. What does that mean for their people? - Science News Magazine

Even a peep of news about a new flu pandemic is enough to set scientists clucking about eggs.

They worried about them in 2005, and in 2009, and theyre worrying now. Thats because millions of fertilized hen eggs are still the main ingredient in making vaccines that, hopefully, will protect people against the outbreak of a new flu strain.

Its almost comical to be using a 1940s technology for a 21st-century pandemic, said Rick Bright, who led the Health and Human Services Departments Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) during the Trump administration.

Its not so funny, he said, when the currently stockpiled formulation against the H5N1 bird flu virus requires two shots and a whopping 90 micrograms of antigen, yet provides just middling immunity. For the U.S. alone, it would take hens laying 900,000 eggs every single day for nine months, Bright said.

And thats only if the chickens dont get infected.

The spread of an avian flu virus has decimated flocks of birds (and killed barn cats and other mammals). Cattle in at least nine states and at least three people in the U.S. have been infected, enough to bring public health attention once again to the potential for a global pandemic.

As of May 30, the only confirmed human cases of infection were dairy workers in Texas and Michigan, who experienced eye irritation. Two quickly recovered, while the third developed respiratory symptoms and was being treated with an antiviral drug at home. The viruss spread into multiple species over a vast geographic area, however, raises the threat that further mutations could create a virus that spreads from human to human through airborne transmission.

If they do, prevention starts with the egg.

"Once those roosters and hens go down, you have no vaccine."

To make raw material for an influenza vaccine, virus is grown in millions of fertilized eggs. Sometimes it doesnt grow well, or it mutates to a degree that the vaccine product stimulates antibodies that dont neutralize the virus or the wild virus mutates to an extent that the vaccine doesnt work against it. And theres always the frightening prospect that wild birds could carry the virus into the henhouses needed in vaccine production.

Once those roosters and hens go down, you have no vaccine, Bright said.

Since 2009, when an H1N1 swine flu pandemic swept around the world before vaccine production could get off the ground, researchers and governments have been looking for alternatives. Billions of dollars have been invested into vaccines produced in mammalian and insect cell lines that dont pose the same risks as egg-based shots.

Everyone knows the cell-based vaccines are better, more immunogenic, and offer better production, said Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease specialist at Johns Hopkins Universitys Center for Health Security. But they are handicapped because of the clout of egg-based manufacturing.

The companies that make the cell-based influenza vaccines, CSL Seqirus and Sanofi, also have billions invested in egg-based production lines that they arent eager to replace. And its hard to blame them, said Nicole Lurie, HHS assistant secretary for preparedness and response under President Barack Obama who is now an executive director of CEPI, the global epidemic-fighting nonprofit.

Most vaccine companies that responded to an epidemic Ebola, Zika, covid ended up losing a lot of money on it, Lurie said.

Exceptions were the mRNA vaccines created for covid, although even Pfizer and Moderna have had to destroy hundreds of millions of doses of unwanted vaccine as public interest waned.

Pfizer and Moderna are testing seasonal influenza vaccines made with mRNA, and the government is soliciting bids for mRNA pandemic flu vaccines, said David Boucher, director of infectious disease preparedness at HHS Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response.

Bright, whose agency invested a billion dollars in a cell-based flu vaccine factory in Holly Springs, North Carolina, said theres no way in hell we can fight an H5N1 pandemic with an egg-based vaccine. But for now, theres little choice.

BARDA has stockpiled hundreds of thousands of doses of an H5N1-strain vaccine that stimulates the creation of antibodies that appear to neutralize the virus now circulating. It could produce millions more doses of the vaccine within weeks and up to 100 million doses in five months, Boucher told KFF Health News.

But the vaccines currently in the national stockpile are not a perfect match for the strain in question. Even with two shots containing six times as much vaccine substance as typical flu shots, the stockpiled vaccines were only partly effective against strains of the virus that circulated when those vaccines were made, Adalja said.

However, BARDA is currently supporting two clinical trials with a candidate vaccine virus that is a good match for what weve found in cows, Boucher said.

Flu vaccine makers are just starting to prepare this falls shots but, eventually, the federal government could request production be switched to a pandemic-targeted strain.

We dont have the capacity to do both, Adalja said.

For now, ASPR has a stockpile of bulk pandemic vaccine and has identified manufacturing sites where 4.8 million doses could be bottled and finished without stopping production of seasonal flu vaccine, ASPR chief Dawn OConnell said on May 22. U.S. officials began trying to diversify away from egg-based vaccines in 2005, when avian flu first gripped the world, and with added vigor after the 2009 fiasco. But with the resources we have available, we get the best bang for our buck and best value to U.S. taxpayers when we leverage the seasonal infrastructure, and thats still mostly egg-based, Boucher said.

Flu vaccine companies have a system that works well right now to accomplish their objectives in manufacturing the seasonal vaccine, he said. And without a financial incentive, we are going to be here with eggs for a while, I think.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFFan independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

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The chicken and egg problem of fighting another flu pandemic - Salon

by Michael Hirtzer, Bloomberg News

Deadly bird flu was detected in an egg-laying chicken flock in Iowa, affecting 4.2 million birds in the biggest U.S. outbreak since 2022.

The detection is the first since December in Iowa, which is the top U.S. egg producer with nearly 12% of the country's layer hens, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. The findings come as the virus has been infecting dairy cows across the U.S.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship said the site is in Sioux County, according to a statement on May 28.

It's the worst outbreak since more than 5 million birds were affected at a farm in Iowa's Osceola County in March 2022, when the virus was first spreading in the country. Prices for eggs surged to a record as tens of millions of birds were killed to slow the spread.

The virus has now moved to dairy cattle as well, prompting dairy farmers to seek compensation for milk losses.

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US has worst bird flu outbreak in two years at Iowa egg farm - Phys.org

US officials on Thursday reported the country's third human case of bird flu linked to the current outbreak of the virus in dairy cattle.

The Michigan farm worker is the second person sickened by the disease in the Midwestern state, following a first case in Texas in April.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a statement all three cases were spread from cows to humans, as opposed to human-to-human, which would be more concerning.

But it added it was the first case "to report more typical symptoms of acute respiratory illness associated with influenza virus infection," while the previous cases resulted in mild symptoms including conjunctivitis.

The person's symptoms included cough without fever, eye discomfort and watery eye discharge. They were treated with the antiviral medicine oseltamivir and isolated at home, with their symptoms resolving.

The worker was not wearing personal protective equipment, which health authorities have recommended for those in close contact with dairy herds, said Michigan's health department.

Over the past few years, a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus called HPAI H5N1 has spread to infect more than 50 animal species, including, from March, dairy cattle in the United States.

Unlike in Europe, American farmers are allowed to feed cattle ground up chicken waste, which some scientists say may be a risk factor for bird flu though the feed industry has challenged this claim and US authorities believe wild birds are responsible for infecting cows.

"The risk to members of the general public who do not have exposure to infected animals remains low," said the CDC.

It added that finding a new case was "not surprising" because Michigan was proactively testing for cases among farmworkers.

In addition to using PPE, people should avoid close exposure to sick or dead animals including wild birds, domesticated birds and other domesticated animals, according to the CDC.

They should also avoid touching animal excrement or bedding, or consuming unpasteurized milk, the agency added.

Recent testing has confirmed mice are sickened by exposure to raw milk contaminated with bird flu, but pasteurization destroys the virus.

Most recently, the disease has been found in farm-raised alpacas in Idaho.

Agence France-Presse

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Bird Flu: Third Human Case in US Emerges After Dairy Cattle Outbreak - ScienceAlert

Three human cases of bird flu have been detected in humans in the US amid an outbreak in dairy cattle.

Health authorities identified a third human case of bird flu in the US amid an outbreak in dairy cattle.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said this was the second human case of influenza A(H5N1) in the US state of Michigan. Another human case of bird flu was detected in Texas in April.

All three cases concerned dairy workers "with exposure to infected cows, making this another instance of probable cow-to-person spread," the CDC said, with no indication that it has been transmitted between people.

The most recent case was the first to have typical influenza symptoms, authorities added. The other two farm workers had only reported eye symptoms.

The risk to the general public is low, the CDC said, but "given the extent of the spread of this virus in dairy cows, additional human cases in people with higher risk exposures would not be surprising".

As of this week, there were 67 dairy cattle herds affected in nine US states.

US authorities have been testing dairy and meat samples to ensure the safety of the food supply.

In April, some 20 per cent of retail dairy samples were positive for viral fragments of bird flu, but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that "additional testing did not detect any live, infectious virus".

Results of testing in May showed that pasteurisation was effective in deactivating the virus, the FDA said.

There are no cases of A(H5N1) in humans or cattle in the EU, according to the latest communicable disease threats report from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Most of the cases of bird flu globally are a specific strain that emerged in 2020 and spread by migratory birds, according to a joint report from the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Health Organization, and the World Organisation for Animal Health

Since 2021, there had been about 28 detections of A(H5N1) in humans reported to WHO, including two cases in Spain in 2022 and four cases in the UK in 2023.

The report also said there were increased detections of bird flu in non-bird species globally.

Authorities recommend that individuals exposed to infected animals wear appropriate protective items and take precautions to reduce infection.

Meanwhile, the Dutch agriculture ministry said this week that two bird flu vaccines were found to be effective in practice.

The government said 1,800 day-old chicks were vaccinated against bird flu in September 2023, with transmission tests showing the vaccines were effective eight weeks on.

"For the coming year and a half, we will continue doing these transmission tests to investigate the effectiveness of the vaccines during the entire laying period," a ministry spokesperson said.

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Third human case of bird flu in US detected in dairy worker - Euronews

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Cases of bird flu have been detected in alpacas at a US farm, authorities said Tuesday, as the disease spreads widely among dairy cattle and has infected two humans.

The National Veterinary Services Laboratories confirmed a highly pathogenic variant of bird flu virus known as H5N1 was detected at an Idaho farm, from which infected poultry were removed this month, the Agriculture Department said.

This detection is not surprising for several reasons, including the earlier infection at the farm, the department said. Still, it is the first time the virus has been found in alpacasmembers of the camel family that are native to the Andes and raised mainly for their fleece.

In recent weeks, the H5N1 variant has been detected in more than 50 animal species in the United States, including dairy cows.

Two people working on farms have been found to have bird flu, albeit with only mild symptoms.

Last week, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said its risk assessment for the general public remained low but it did suggest it expects more cases.

Experts have said they are worried by the growing number of mammals infected by bird flu even if cases among people remain rare.

There is no evidence of human-to-human transmission at present, but health officials fear that if the virus were to eventually spread widely it could mutate into a form that could pass between humans.

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Bird flu detected in alpacas in US for the first time - Phys.org

Bird flu virus has been detected in dairy cows in the United States for the first time.

The detection of the H5N1 virus suggests there is now a new phase in the virus' spread among mammals, researchers from Atlanta's Emory University said.

"We have moved into new territory," Thomas Gillespie, an ecologist, professor, and chair of Emory University's Department of Environmental Sciences, said in a statement. "You can find this trend around the world, almost anywhere you look. This virus has an extremely broad range of hosts that it is able to infect."

Bird flu has been spreading among animals since 2022. This latest finding clearly shows a global pattern among the virus.

Scientists have long known that bird flu can infect mammals. They generally catch it when they are exposed to the virus in a contaminated environment or when they eat infected birds. However, it seems the number of mammals contracting the virus is increasing rapidly.

The virus is killing masses of elephant seals, sea lions, and seals in South America. In March 2023, 3,487 sea lions were reported dead in Peru, most of them from the virus.

According to Gillespie, there needs to be more research into how the virus is spreading so rapidlyespecially as other factors, such as climate change, are also threatening the world's mammals.

It is possible that there is another, previously undetected cause of its spread. According to Gillespie, the virus may now be being transferred from mammal to mammal.

"Not enough surveillance is done in wildlife to know for sure how the virus is spreading," Gillespie said in a statement. "Some of the species that are at risk for bird flu are already battling the stressors of climate change and loss of habitat."

Since 2022, bird flu has been found in 200 mammals in the U.S. More recently, a study detailed the first-ever case of a bottlenose dolphin in the U.S. Other mammals, such as foxes, bobcats, mountain lions, coyotes, and black and brown bears, have contracted the virus.

In 2023, a polar bear became the first of its species to die from the virus. Bird flu has even made its way into the remote Antarctic, having been detected in native animals there including birds and elephant seals.

Each time a new mammal is found with the virus, it presents a new risk of its being transferred to others. It also gives the virus more chances to mutate, making it more dangerous. This, in turn, could make it more transmissible to humans. The current risk to humans is very low; however, that does not mean this won't change in the future.

Gillespie notes that bird flu detected in pigs presents a very worrisome scenario. Due to their immune systems' similarities with humans, the animals can act as mixing vessels for viruses.

He said that deforestation and industrialized animal production are both major factors driving the risk of pandemics. He called for reducing animal product consumption to mitigate these risks.

"The resulting cheap meat that we buy does not reflect the true costs to the ecosystems that sustain us," Gillespie said. "If we want to live sustainably, we need to cut down on the amount of animal products that we consume. That will be a win-win for human health and for planetary health."

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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Bird Flu in US Cows Part of Wider Trend'We Have Moved Into New Territory' - Newsweek

A farmworker in Michigan is the first person to experience respiratory symptoms after contracting bird flu from dairy cows infected with the H5N1 virus, said Michigan officials on Thursday. It was the third U.S. case of cow-to-human transmission and the second in Michigan. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said the risk to the general public remained low.

With this case, respiratory symptoms occurred after direct exposure to an infected cow, said Dr.Natasha Bagdasarian, the states chief medical officer. Neither of the two Michigan farmworkers who became ill were wearing a full set of personal protective equipment (PPE), she said.

This tells us direct exposure to infected livestock poses a risk to humans, and that PPE is an important tool in preventing spread among individuals who work on dairy and poultry farms, said Bagdasarian.

In the two previous cases of bird flu in humans, workers on dairy farms in Texas and Michigan developed conjunctivitis, also known as pink eye, as part of mild infections. The new case was the first with respiratory symptoms, potentially a more serious condition.

The third case does not alter CDCs overall risk assessment for the general public, which remains low, said Nirav Shah, the CDCs principal deputy director. The risk is higher for people in contact with infected animals, and they should wear PPE, he said during a teleconference.

Asked if respiratory symptoms were a signal that the H5N1 virus was becoming more dangerous, Shah said genomic sequencing indicated that this is still an avian virus and not adapted to mammals not a cause to change course or suggest we are at an inflection point.

TheCenters for Disease Controlsaid the Michigan farmworker reported upper respiratory tract symptoms, including cough without fever, and eye discomfort with watery discharge. The patient was given antiviral treatment is isolating at home, and their symptoms are resolving. No one else has developed similar symptoms, it said. This is the first human case of H5 [influenza] in the United States to report more typical symptoms of acute respiratory illness associated with influenza virus infection, including the H5N1 virus.

Michigan has the highest number of infected dairy herds in the nation, 22, followed by Texas, with 15. To date, the H5N1 virus has been identified in 69 herds in nine states, from Idaho to North Carolina.

Agriculture SecretaryTom Vilsackinjected an additional $824 million into the USDAs animal health agency on Thursday, boosting to $2.1 billion the funding to combat highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in cattle and poultry. HPAI outbreaks in poultry have killed at least 95.6 million birds in domestic flocks since February 2022.

The USDA also announced a Voluntary H5N1 Dairy Herd Status Pilot Program, with enrollment beginning next week, as an alternative to its requirement to test lactating dairy cows for the H5N1 virus before transporting them across state lines. The program would allow farmers to ship cows if milk samples from bulk storage tanks on their farms test negative for the virus for three weeks in a row. Farmers would be obliged to continue the weekly tests. The USDA said eligible states would be announced soon.

In addition, the USDA said it had foundH5N1 viral particlesin one of 109 samples of beef muscle taken from 96 culled dairy cows sent to slaughter, though it said, No meat from these dairy cattle entered the food supply.

As a precaution, the government has ordered 4.8 million doses of bird flu vaccine, with manufacturing to be completed during the summer. There is no recommendation for vaccination, said an HHS official.

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In a first, farmworker infected with bird flu has respiratory symptoms - Successful Farming