Category: Flu Virus

The federal government Friday unveiled a major package of financial incentives to dairy farm owners up to $28,000 per farm over the next four months to encourage broader testing of cattle and expanded security measures to control a growing outbreak of the bird flu virus in cows.

The $98 million in incentives from the Department of Agriculture, available only to farms with infected herds, is being offered as federal officials grapple with critical questions over how the virus has been spreading among dairy herds since the H5N1 bird flu was first detected in dairy cows in late March. Federal officials are trying to determine the risks for human exposure and how long livestock shed the virus in their milk once they have recovered from an infection.

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Federal dollars to increase bird flu testing for dairy cows, farm workers - The Washington Post

The Biden administration said on Friday that it would compensate dairy farmers for cooperating with its efforts to limit the spread of the bird flu virus, part of a series of expansive measures aimed at containing an outbreak.

The payment system amounted to one of the most forceful actions taken so far by agriculture officials who have raced to keep up with the spread of the virus among dairy cows. Farm owners have been reluctant to allow state and federal officials access to cows and workers exposed to or infected by the virus, and are fearful of the financial consequences of infected herds and contaminated milk.

Under the so-called indemnity program, farms would receive up to $28,000 to protect workers and cover costs incurred treating and testing sick cows. Producers may also receive payments for lost milk production on farms with confirmed bird flu cases.

Farm workers who agree to participate in government-led studies will also be compensated for their time.

Were now moving into a phase of equipping producers to reduce the risk of wider spread, Tom Vilsack, the agriculture secretary, said at a news briefing on Friday, acknowledging the difficulties of reaching farmers.

The program was part of a broader federal push announced on Friday to increase spending on the bird flu response. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is planning to scale up testing capacity a blind spot early in the coronavirus pandemic and its assessment of bird flu vaccines, should they be needed.

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Biden Administration to Pay Dairy Farmers for Bird Flu Protective Measures - The New York Times

Colorado has highly pathogenic avian influenza also known as HPAI or bird flu on a dairy farm, the ninth state with confirmed cases. The U.S. Department of Agricultures National Veterinary Services Laboratories confirmed the virus on April 25, 2024, in a herd in northeast Colorado.

This farm is one of 35 dairy farms across the U.S. with verified cases of bird flu in cattle as of May 7, 2024, according to the USDA.

Bird flu is not new to Colorado. The state experienced an outbreak in poultry that began in 2022. Since then, the USDAs Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has reported that 6.3 million birds in nine commercial flocks and 25 backyard flocks have been affected by the virus. The most recent detection was in February 2024.

But this is the first time the disease has made cattle in Colorado sick.

Im a veterinarian and epidemiologist at Colorado State University who focuses on infectious diseases in dairy cows. I spent many years on a USDA incident management team working on multiple cattle and poultry disease outbreaks, and Im leading the efforts at Colorado State University to study this novel outbreak.

Bird flu was first detected in dairy cattle in Texas and Kansas in March 2024.

Colorado State University faculty responded to the outbreak by forming a multistate group with state departments of agriculture, the USDA and other universities to gain a better perspective of how this virus is transmitted between farms and among cows. The team is coordinating the sampling and testing of sick and healthy cows on affected farms to understand which animals are shedding the virus, meaning they are more likely to spread the disease, and for how long.

We are also working to identify mitigation steps to help control this disease. Our network of animal health specialists is working with dairy producers and informing them of new data on a weekly basis.

In February 2024, veterinarians and researchers began testing the blood, urine, feces, milk and nasal swab samples of sick cows. The virus was detected most frequently in raw milk, suggesting the disease may have been spread to other cows during the milking process.

More recent laboratory tests have also detected the virus in cows nasal secretions for a short time before the virus presents in their raw milk.

In late April, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and USDA began testing commercial milk samples. To date, authorities have not detected any live virus in these samples.

Thats expected because the pasteurization process, which heats milk to at least 161 degrees Fahrenheit (72 degrees Celsius) for at least 15 seconds, kills the virus. Pasteurization times and temperatures used in the U.S. are designed to kill bacterial pathogens, but they are working against this virus.

Raw milk, as its name implies, is not pasteurized. The CDC has linked drinking raw milk to many foodborne illnesses, including E. coli and salmonella. The presence of the virus that causes bird flu, H5N1, is an additional reason for concern.

Dairy producers are required to divert abnormal milk and milk from sick cows from the food supply to protect consumers.

In addition to milk, the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service has tested samples of commercial ground beef from states with sick cows. No virus had been found in beef as of May 1, 2024.

At this early stage of the outbreak in dairy cows, researchers dont know exactly how bird flu spreads in cattle, so recommendations to contain it may shift as more is learned.

I have seen many infected cows and they look dull and depressed, similar to how humans feel during a viral infection. Many infected cows have signs similar to humans with the flu, such as a fever.

Many dairy producers separate sick cows in hospital pens, away from healthy ones, so sick cows can be easily monitored and treated.

Since the virus has been found in nasal secretions in early infection, its possible the water tanks for the herds drinking water could be a source of infection. Farmers should continue to clean these tanks at least weekly and even more often in hospital pens as a best practice.

The good news is that most cows get better. Like a human with the flu, they respond to anti-inflammatory drugs and oral fluids.

A small percentage of cows do get secondary bacterial infections and die or are humanely euthanized. Some cows recover from the infection but stop producing milk and are removed from the herd and usually slaughtered for beef.

Because the virus is detected most often in milk from sick cows, our team recommends dairy producers continue following best milking practices on the dairy farm, including disinfecting the cows teats before and after milking, even healthy cows.

Just one case of human conjunctivitis due to bird flu was reported in a Texas dairy farmworker in late March. The worker was likely exposed through direct contact with milk from an infected cow or from rubbing their eyes with their hands or gloves that had come in contact with contaminated milk. The CDC recommends farmworkers wear personal protective equipment, including eye protection, when in direct or close physical contact with raw milk.

Viruses can end up on farms through the movement of cattle, people, vehicles, equipment and wild birds.

The U.S. dairy industry has a Secure Milk Supply Plan that addresses foreign and emerging dairy cattle diseases like bird flu. The plan calls for increased biosecurity practices on farms during disease outbreaks.

Biosecurity practices include limiting cattle movement on and off farms, allowing only required personnel access to cattle, preventing vehicles and equipment from other farms from entering cattle areas, and cleaning and disinfecting vehicles entering and leaving dairy farms. Following these practices should greatly reduce the opportunity for the virus to enter new herds.

Birds also carry the virus. They are more difficult to control because of their easy access to feed and water on dairy farms. State and federal fish and game departments and wildlife agencies work with farmers to reduce the risk of diseases spread by wild birds. These include programs to limit the number of birds attracted to dairy farms while respecting rules protecting these species.

Producers who observe cows with clinical signs of bird flu should let their veterinarians know so that proper testing can be done to confirm the presence of bird flu. If a test result is positive, the lab that conducts the test must report it to the USDA. As USDA and affected states continue to track the disease, an accurate estimate of affected farms will allow investigators to determine how the virus is spreading from farm to farm and if we are making progress in containing it.

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Bird flu detected in Colorado dairy cattle a vet explains the risks of the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus - The Conversation

In the weeks since the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a bird flu outbreak in dairy cows that had gone undiagnosed for months, bystanders have wondered why it took so long to identify. Experts say there are key scientific and political reasons why the dairy industry was caught off guard by the H5N1 avian influenza virusand that understanding those factors will be vital to controlling the disease on dairy farms and preventing an outbreak in humans.

The dairy industry has never had to deal with something like this before, says Keith Poulsen, director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory and a former dairy veterinarian. This is probably going to be the most important outbreak in my professional career.

After weeks of uncertaintyfueled by the unnerving revelation that the outbreak likely began last December and took months to recognizethe federal government is taking some action. The USDA has mandated testing for lactating cows that are being transported across state lines in the hopes of squashing the spread of the virus, which has so far been confirmed in 36 herds across nine states. One human case has been reported this year, but the infection was mild, and more than a month has passed with no new cases confirmed. Epidemiologists have called for more human testing to better monitor the situation, however. Meanwhile Food and Drug Administration testing has shown that viral particles that were found in pasteurized milk were not infectious, suggesting little threat to consumers.

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Authorities scramble to understand and control the situation is particularly concerning because scientists have long worried about the potential for an H5N1 strain to jump into humans and cause a pandemic. And bird flu has been devastating poultry farms around the world for years now. Veterinarians and epidemiologists have been on high alert since 2022, when a new strain began tearing through wild birds and even mammals, killing or forcing U.S. farmers to cull some 90 million domestic birds. How could it take months to notice the same virus was spreading in dairy cows?

One reason the outbreak went undetected for so long is that people thought it was unlikely that the virus would jump into cows. Avian influenza is, after all, most common in birds, whereas flus in general have been rare in cows. The chances of it going from migratory birds to cows were so low, Poulsen says. And then it happened.

Dairy farmers typically worry about contagious bacterial mastitis, an infection of a cows udder, or bovine viral diarrheaillnesses the industry is familiar with and knows how to treat. Avian influenza wasnt on our bingo cards for the year, says Emily Yeiser Stepp, an animal scientist and executive director of the National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program. The program, which is housed within a lobbying group called the National Milk Producers Federation, acts as an on-farm social responsibility program for the dairy industry, a mission that includes promoting animal health.

The next challenge was connecting the dots to determine what was infecting the cowswhich was difficult because the symptoms of H5N1 in these animals werent known in advance and arent particularly distinctive. Sick cows werent eating well and were producing less milkand the milk that they did produce was sometimes thick and yellow-hued. But none of these symptoms were particularly unusual, says Meghan Davis, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a former dairy veterinarian.

The number-one presenting complaint to call a vet out to your farm is: [your cow is] off feed, and you cant figure out why, Davis says. So its not surprising to me that it took a minute to figure this out.

Moreover, only about 10 percent of an affected dairy herd seems to get infected with H5N1. And cows arent dying; they bounce back to health within a couple of weeks. Cows are like walking battle tanks, Poulsen says. But this is also a very different manifestation of avian influenza than that seen in domestic chickens: H5N1 can blaze through and devastate a flock in days, he adds. Wild mammals that have been infected with avian influenza display serious respiratory and even neurological symptoms such as seizures. In contrast, infected cows are tricky to spot. You need to look for it; its not something very apparent, says Zelmar Rodriguez, a dairy veterinarian at Michigan State University, who has visited farms with H5N1-infected cows.

Because farmers didnt know they had avian influenza on their hands, the low impact of the disease made it easy for them to shrug off the infection. Once veterinarians pinned down H5N1 as the culprit, the situation became more serious because of the implications for human health. The complications of the dairy outbreak make containing it a challenge, however.

Scientists still arent certain how avian influenza jumps between cows. Influenzas are typically considered respiratory diseases, yet cows seem to produce the most virus in their udders, so milking machinery could be carrying virus-laden droplets of milk from one cow to the next. Lactating cows can experience discomfort when they are not milked regularly, so all thats left for farmers to do is to try to increase safety measures in the milking process itself.

Adding to the problem, the dairy industry moves tens of thousands of female cattle between states every week, Poulsen says, because the animals grow well as calves in hot, dry environments but produce more milk as mature cows in cooler regions. This movement of sick animals likely facilitated early spread between farms.

The USDA has already moved to address this spread: as of April 29, it is requiring that lactating cows test negative for H5N1 before they can cross state lines. Controlling the spread of avian influenza without stopping the complex system of cow movement is a crucial balance, Poulsen says. We cant just turn off milk production, and we cant turn off the supply chain of those cows, he says.

Testing and other monitoring strategies need to be strengthened even for cows staying in one place, however. I think that we are a bit behind on the surveillance, Davis says. In particular, she says shed like to see cows undergo serological testing, which looks for antibodies in blood that are tailored to a specific pathogen and can signify past exposure to that pathogen. She also notes that existing milk-monitoring systems set up for food safety may offer opportunities for better tracking of H5N1, given the viruss prevalence in milk. In addition, the same wastewater monitoring infrastructure that scientists developed to keep an eye on COVID is also offering insight on where avian influenza is striking dairy cows, as well as other animal infections.

Tackling avian influenza in dairy animals poses additional logistical complications. Compared with the poultry industry, the dairy industry is more fragmented, Davis says: the latter is made up of many independent farms rather than large, centralized companies that hire farmers on contract.

Another distinction between the industries is that the government has an indemnification system that reimburses poultry farmers for birds that are culled to keep the disease from spreading. By contrast, experts say that killing cows wouldnt help stem the dairy outbreak because of the animals lower infection rate and milder symptoms. Yeiser Stepp isnt sure yet what financial strategy makes the most sense for the farmers who work with her. Shes also a herd owner who has cows based in states that are not reporting H5N1 cases, and she says her biggest concern is about the fees for calling a vet out to the farm more regularly.

Rodriguez says that at present he thinks the priority needs to be strengthening biosecurity measures that can protect both cows and the humans who care for them. Existing recommendations hold that workers should be wearing gloves during the milking process, but doubling down on this guideline and adding additional personal protective equipment such as disposable coveralls, face shields, masks and goggles are important steps for keeping the virus out of humans. Currently, dairy workers are among the people who are most at risk of avian influenza, and many are disempowered migrant workers who face structural barriers to accessing health care. To determine what comes next, however, scientists need to pin down the outbreaks many lingering unknowns, such as how the virus is spreading and how long cows remain infectious. I think that biosecurity is the only thing that we can do right now, at least until we have more answers in terms of the dynamic of the virus, Rodriguez says.

Despite the stumbles early in the response, Poulsen says, theres still time to put an end to the dairy outbreak before it becomes a bigger issue for the industry as a whole or for the general population. We have the best veterinarians and public health scientists in the world, he says. We can do it. We just need the funding and the political will.

The rest is here:

How Bird Flu Caught the Dairy Industry Off Guard - Scientific American

Today the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced new assistance programs for producers affected by H5N1 avian flu outbreaks in cattle.

The assistance is meant to both improve on-site biosecurity and address financial losses connected to lost milk production in herds affected by H5N1. The USDA said the measures build on a federal order, which took effect on April 29, that called for collecting and aggregating H5N1 test results and halting most interstate movement of lactating herds.

The new programs incentivizes personal protective equipment (PPE) for farm workers who interact with infected herds, which now number at least 42. The USDA will also reimburse farmers for veterinary expense associated with infected animals and offset shipping costs for influenza A testing at laboratories in the National Animal Health Laboratory Network.

"Taken together, these tools represent a value of up to $28,000 per premises to support increased biosecurity activities over the next 120 days," the two agencies said.

HHS also announced new funding investments through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) totaling $101 million to mitigate the risk of H5N1.

"Although the CDC's assessment of the risk of avian influenza infection for the general public continues to remain low at this time, these investments reflect the Department's commitment to prioritizing the health and safety of the American public," HHS said.

Although the CDC's assessment of the risk of avian influenza infection for the general public continues to remain low at this time, these investments reflect the Department's commitment to prioritizing the health and safety of the American public.

Included in the CDC funds are $8 million in vaccine activities to determine whether current Candidate Vaccine Viruses would be effective and the current strain of H5N1. The CDC will also allocate $3 million for wastewater surveillance.

Today Reuters reported the CDC will begin to post data on influenza A found in wastewater in a public dashboard.

The news agency quoted Marc Johnson, PhD, a virologist at the University of Missouri who developed a wastewater monitoring system for COVID.

"I'm not worried about the cows. I'm not worried about the milk. But I'm worried that there are lots of other animals that it can jump to, and eventually it's going to find a combination that can make it into humans if we're not careful," he said.

The FDA today announced the completion of testing on 297 retail dairy samples; all were found to be negative for viable H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses.

Preliminary results had been announced last week. The FDA said it would continue to fund surveillance and research on the safety of commercial milk.

The agency also said an additional $8 million is being made available to support FDA efforts to ensure the safety of the commercial milk supply. "This funding will support the agency's ability to validate pasteurization criteria, conduct surveillance at different points in the milk production system, bolster laboratory capacity and provide needed resources to train staff on biosecurity procedures," the FDA said in a news release.

The FDA also continues to advise against the consumption of raw milk.

"To date," the FDA added, "the totality of evidenceincluding studies on the effectiveness of pasteurization against multiple pathogens, recent studies on the effectiveness of pasteurization of HPAI H5N1 in eggs at lower temperatures than generally used in dairy products, negative retail sample results to date, and real-world evidence from the last 100 years of the PMO [Pasteurized Milk Ordinance]continues to indicate that the commercial milk supply is safe.

"At the same time, the FDA also continues to advise against the consumption of raw milk (milk that has not been pasteurized)."

Finally Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) reported yesterday 6 more dairy herds infected with H5N1, raising the total to 42. They are in already affected states: Michigan (4 herds), Colorado (1), and Idaho (1). The number of affected states remains nine.

In Michigan, both a dairy herd and a backyard poultry flock in Ionia County were hit with H5N1. That county has reported the virus in cattle previously and, earlier this week, in pigeons.

Continued here:

Feds announces assistance for US farmers affected by H5N1 avian flu - University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Officials from Coloradothe most recent state affected by H5N1 avian flu in dairy cowsprovided updates on their investigations and measures to track the spread of the virus, noting that the source of the virus in the affected herd still isn't clear.

In other developments, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) reported more detections in other mammals from two states and researchers shed new light on infectivity in pigs from a strain that infected Spanish minks.

At a public town hall on Zoom today, veterinary and public health officials from Colorado today detailed the background of H5N1 findings in the state since 2022, described the state's response to recent detections, and fielded questions from the public.

On April 26, the USDA reported the first detection in a Colorado herd, which raised the number of affected states to nine. The next day, the Colorado Department of Agriculture said the affected dairy cows were located in the northeastern part of the state. The state veterinarian's office received a notification on April 22 about a herd with clinical signs consistent with highly pathogenic avian flu in cattle.

Samples submitted to the Colorado State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory tested presumptive positive on April 24 and were confirmed by the USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratory the following day.

On May 1, Colorado's agricultural commission and the CDA agriculture commissioner approved an emergency rule to limit the spread of the virus. Colorado has 106 dairies and about 200,000 dairy cows.

At today's town meeting, Maggie Baldwin, DVM, Colorado's state veterinarian, said investigators are still assessing how the Colorado cows were exposed to the virus. "We're still putting the puzzle pieces together."

We're still putting the puzzle pieces together.

She added that whole-genome sequencing will help tell the story, adding that the state's farmers have been very helpful. "The goal in getting an answer is stopping additional spread," she said.

Baldwin said there are still several unknowns, including the length of the incubation period in cattle, the mechanism of transmission, how long the animals shed the virus, and whether H5N1 poses a risk to nonlactating cattle or other livestock species.

Rachel Herlihy, MD, MPH, deputy chief medical officer and chief epidemiologist at the Colorado Department of Public Health, said the overall risk to humans remains low, but it depends on exposure. She said about 70 farm workers have been monitored in Colorado, and none have had symptoms.

Regarding wastewater monitoring, she said Colorado does have a pilot program and officials have not seen any overall rise in flu markers over the past few weeks.

In other developments, APHIS reported a few more detections in other mammals. They include five red foxes with samples collected on April 24 from Ionia County, Michigan, an area where H5N1 has been reported in dairy cows.

Also, the virus was found in two samples collected on April 21 and April 22 from a pair of opossums in Ionia County.

APHIS also reported the virus in a red fox from Onondaga County, New York.

In research developments, a team led by Kansas State University scientists yesterday reported that pigs are highly susceptible to the H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b avian flu virus that struck mink farms in Spain in 2022.

The virus is different from the B3.13 genotype currently spreading in US dairy cows, but it raised concerns because there was clear evidence of mink-to-mink transmission. Also, researchers worry that the virus is becoming more adapted to mammals.

Writing in Emerging Microbes and Infections, the group described its findings after experimentally infecting pigs with the mink virus. The pigs experienced pneumonia but shed limited amounts of the virus and didn't pass the virus to contact pigs.

Sequencing found low frequencies of mammalian-like mutations PB2-E627K and HA-Q222L.

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Colorado officials probe source of H5N1 in cows as USDA confirms more infected mammals - University of Minnesota Twin Cities

After public health officials confirmed H5N1, the virus also known as bird flu, jumped from poultry to cows and recently infected an American, theyve warned that if the virus strain made its way to pigs, it could be a time to press the panic button. That's because swine are closer to humans in genetic terms, acting as a prime reservoir for viruses to mutate into something that could turn into a far-reaching pandemic in people.

But now, a new study suggests that dairy cows might have the same potential as pigs, which could improve the bird flus capability of being more human-to-human transmission.

As reported by Nature, preliminary data shows that the flu virus can jump back and forth between cows and birds thanks to a specific receptor. This specific trait might allow the virus to spread more widely and develop more mutations along the way. If a single cow can be a host to multiple types of influenza over time, it could evolve to more readily infect humans.

The biggest question is whether cows are mixing vessels like pigs; pigs are well-known mixing vessels for influenza because they have both avian and human receptors and that allows a virus to mutate pretty easily and to make it more susceptible to humans, Katelyn Jetelina, an epidemiologist and author of the newsletter Your Local Epidemiologist, told Salon. And this preprint said that cows have both avian and human receptors in the mammary glands as well as other areas of the cow, which may suggest that they're a mixing vessel.

Jetelina emphasized that may is a key word.

"That means that if you let the virus collect in cows a lot, then soon youre going to see an adaptation that's going to pick it up in humans and other mammals."

Because although they have the receptor it doesn't necessarily mean it's active, it doesn't necessarily mean it's exactly how we see the dynamics playing in pigs, she said. So it really opens up more questions and answers at this point.

Dr. Rajendram Rajnarayanan of the New York Institute of Technology campus in Jonesboro, Ark., told Salon this preliminary report changes things a lot.

That means that if you let the virus collect in cows a lot, then soon youre going to see an adaptation that's going to pick it up in humans and other mammals, he said. Pigs can get infected with multiple viruses at a time. This could make it easier for the virus to mutate into a new one that could more easily jump from mammal to mammal, like say, from one human to another. If thats the case with cows, as Rajnarayanan said, that's going to be a problem.

According to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), at least 42 dairy cattle farms have been infected in at least nine states. But infectious disease experts highly suspect there are more since testing is voluntary, unless they are being moved between state lines. The USDA also reported this week more confirmed cases of H5N1 in poultry and wild birds, including pigeons at a Michigan dairy where an outbreak has occurred. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has also urged state health officials to provide personal protective equipment for livestock workers.

On Thursday, the CDC announced the launch of a dashboard to track wastewater samples of the virus and confirmed the presence of influenza A in wastewater samples. But as Reuters reports, "The wastewater tests are capable of detecting many types of influenza A, including the H5N1 subtype, but the findings do not indicate the source of the virus or whether it came from a bird, cow, milk or from farm runoff or humans."

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Notably, bird flu is not a new virus like SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, was when it first began spreading in late 2019. H5N1 has been spreading in birds since at least 2021, killing hundreds of millions of them around the world. It has also infected other mammals, including seals and bears. However, this outbreak is the first time officials have confirmed that the virus has jumped from a cow to a human, and the line of transmission suggests its easily passed between cows.

The last time a human tested positive for H5N1 was in April 2022 in Colorado, when an individual got infected from poultry. Recently, a report published in the New England Journal of Medicine shed more light on the one confirmed human case where someone got infected from an infected cow. A photo in the journal showed the patient with conjunctivitis in both eyes, also known as pink eye, with a subconjunctival hemorrhage, which is like a bruise, making them appear bloody. The patient was treated with an antiviral right away, and close contacts were given post-exposure prophylaxis. Notably, the patient didnt have any respiratory symptoms, and household contacts remained in good health, according to the report.

"There's not really an incentive for them to test."

I think they acted quickly on that person, and that was good, Rajnarayanan said. But the only thing is, we haven't really heard about anything else. He added its likely that there have been more cases that havent been recorded. Jetelina agreed she wouldnt be surprised to hear of more human cases either. As noted in Nature, there have been anecdotal reports of farm workers being infected. One expert told the publication that they suspect the exposure is widespread.

Jetelina said its important to note the social context in which this situation is unfolding. Primarily, a majority of farmer workers are undocumented, Spanish-speaking immigrants.

There's not really an incentive for them to test, Jetelina said. If they test positive that means they're out of work for two weeks, which has huge implications to their family and there's a lot of language barriers as well.

In order to move forward, Jetelina said there needs to be better data transparency and communication.

And this isn't just disease-based, this is working with humans and all the behaviors and values that those humans possess, she said. And I think all we can do is try to explain why we want them to be tested, protect them with incentives for example, paid time-off would be great.

But as it stands, Jetelina said were flying blind.

Rajnarayanan said at the moment, hes at his highest level of concern.

We are running blind, we don't really have a lot of data, he said. The data is coming here and there, but it's [difficult] to connect the dots sometimes when you have dots that are so far from each other.

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Originally posted here:

Inadequate bird flu testing is making pandemic experts concerned we're "flying blind" with H5N1 - Salon

CHICAGO (Reuters) Final testing of U.S. retail dairy samples came back negative for viable H5N1 bird flu virus, the Food and Drug Administration said on Friday.

The FDA said it finished its laboratory research into 297 retail dairy samples tested for bird flu, after previously reporting that preliminary results showed the commercial milk supply was safe.

(Reporting by Tom Polansek)

See original here:

Final tests of US dairy samples are negative for bird flu virus, US FDA says - SRN News

JONEL ALECCIA and MIKE STOBBE, Associated Press

3 hours ago

FILE - Dairy cows stand together at a farm, Monday, April 1, 2024, in Clinton, Maine. Federal health and agriculture officials pledged new spending and other efforts Friday, May 10, 2024, to help track and contain an outbreak of bird flu in the nation's dairy cows that has spread to more than 40 herds in nine states. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

U.S. health and agriculture officials pledged nearly $200 million in new spending and other efforts Friday to help track and contain an outbreak of bird flu in the nations dairy cows that has spread to more than 40 herds in nine states.

The new funds include $101 million to continue work to prevent, test, track and treat animals and humans potentially affected by the virus known as Type A H5N1, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said. And they include about $98 million to provide up to $28,000 each to help individual farms test cattle and bolster biosecurity efforts to halt the spread of the virus, according to the Agriculture Department.

In addition, dairy farmers will be compensated for the loss of milk production from infected cattle, whose supply drops dramatically when they become sick, officials said. And dairy farmers and farm workers would be paid to participate in a workplace study conducted by the USDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

So far, farmers have been reluctant to allow health officials onto their farms to test cattle because of uncertainty about how it would affect their businesses, researchers have said. Also, farm workers, including many migrant workers, have been reluctant to be tested for fear of missing work or because they didnt want to be tracked by the government.

The National Milk Producers Federation, a trade group representing dairy farmers, said they welcomed the new resources. Care for farm workers and animals is critical for milk producers, as is protecting against potential human health risks and reassuring the public, the group said in a statement.

The incentives should help increase farmers willingness to test their herds, said Keith Poulsen, director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, who has been monitoring the outbreak.

It provides the latitude and capacity to start going in the right direction, he said.

The new spending comes more than six weeks after the first-ever detection of an avian bird flu virus in dairy cattle and one confirmed infection in a Texas dairy worker exposed to infected cows who developed a mild eye infection and then recovered. About 33 people have been tested and another 260 are being monitored, according to the CDC.

As of Friday, 42 herds in nine states have confirmed infections in dairy cows. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said that the outbreak has not spread more widely.

Its still in the same nine states and thats the most positive thing about where we are, he told reporters.

Samples of grocery store milk tested by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration showed remnants of the virus in about 1 in 5 samples of retail milk nationwide, however, suggesting that the outbreak could be more widespread, scientists have said.

Under a federal order issued last month, farmers are required to test lactating dairy cattle for H5N1 before the animals are moved between states. The Agriculture Department said Friday that 112 out of 905 tests conducted between April 29 and May 5 by federal animal health laboratories appeared to be positive. Officials could not say how many cows tested positive because multiple samples may have been collected from a single cow. Labs are conducting about 80 more tests per day than before the order took effect, an Agriculture Department spokesman said.

About 50,000 dairy cattle typically cross state lines every week, Poulsen estimates.

The FDA found that pasteurization, or heat-treating, killed the virus in the grocery samples of milk, cottage cheese and sour cream. The agency reiterated warnings that people should not consume raw, or unpasteurized milk, because of possible risk from the virus. Officials on Friday also said they expect results soon from tests of pooled raw milk samples sent to commercial processors to determine potential levels of virus that pasteurization must eliminate. The USDA found no evidence of the virus in a small sample of retail ground beef.

The risk to the public from this outbreak remains low, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said.

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This story has been updated to clarify the count of H5N1 test results in U.S. cattle. The Agriculture Department initially told reporters 80 cows were tested between April 29 and May 5. The department later said it collected 905 samples, and that 112 appeared to be positive. It could not provide the number of cows tested because multiple samples may have been collected from a single cow.

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US pledges money and other aid to help track and contain bird flu on dairy farms - WLNS

This story will be continually updated as new cases are reported to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

To date, 36 dairy herds in nine states have been found to be carrying Highly-Pathological Avian Influenza (HPAI), a virus originally found in wild birds and usually associated with turkey and poultry flocks. The first known transmission found in a dairy cow herd was announced on March 25 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), with herds in Kansas and Texas suffering from illness and testing positive.

Since the original diagnosis, herds in New Mexico, Ohio, Idaho, Michigan, North Carolina, Colorado, and South Dakota have been identified as carrying HPAI. The USDA has created a webpage with a list of the date each herd was diagnosed.

Some dairy cows have tested positive for HPAI despite being asymptomatic, the USDA said on Wednesday. In a majority of cases, dairy cattle have shown symptoms such as these listed by the Kansas Department of Agriculture:

Symptoms are mostly restricted to late-stage lactating cows and include a drop in milk production, loss of appetite, and changes in manure consistency. We encourage dairy producers to minimize wildlife access to their dairy cattles water and feed sources.

While HPAI is normally fatal for poultry and turkey, dairy cows are able to recover in about two weeks when receiving treatment.

In response to the growing number of cases and concerns, on April 24 Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced a mandatory testing ordinance that requires dairy cattle herds to be tested for HPAI before they can be moved across state lines. The order goes into effect on April 29.

This is an evolving situation, said Vilsack during a teleconference. Emergence of this virus poses a bit of a new risk.

In addition, the USDA said in a press release that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) released 239 genetic sequences found in the recent H5N1 and HPAI influenza viruses found in dairy cattle and poultry for interested researchers.

APHIS is urging dairy cattle producers and those who work in or with the industry to share epidemiological information from affected farms, even if they are not planning to move cattle interstate, the release stated.

USDA emphasized the CDCs assessment that humans are at low risk of contracting the disease. One person in Texas has tested positive for contracting H5N1 as of May 9.

While there are no documented cases of bird flu in beef cattle, the USDA announced April 29 the organization would test ground beef from the nine states with confirmed H5N1 cases.

The FDA found particles of HPAI in samples of pasteurized milk as recently as April 23, but in a release said that it has full confidence in the safety ofmilk sold in grocery stores.

Based on available information, pasteurization is likely to inactivate the virus, however the process is not expected to remove the presence of viral particles, the FDA said in a report published by Reuters on Tuesday.

In addition, on April 25 Sid Miller, Texas agriculture commissioner, tried to assuage consumer fears about H5N1 in the commmercial milk supply.

There is no reason for consumers to panic, noted Commissioner Miller. Milk and dairy products remain safe for consumption. Milk from affected cows is discarded before it can enter the supply chain. In the rare event that contaminated milk does enter the supply chain, pasteurization effectively kills viruses even if traces of the virus remain detectable.

Successful Farming will continue publishing stories on the HPAI/dairy cow situation. Here is a comprehensive list of our coverage since April 2, 2024:

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Latest developments on avian flu virus in dairy cattle - Successful Farming