Category: Flu Virus

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. Animal health experts in Penn States College of Agricultural Sciences have announced that out of an abundance of caution they will test the Universitys dairy herd for highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI, under a voluntary state testing program.

The announcement comes amidst an outbreak of bird flu that has affected dairy cattle in more than a dozen states since March. As of July 19, the virus had not been found in Pennsylvania dairy herds, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and state animal health authorities.

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has encouraged all dairy farms in the state to enroll in its Lactating Dairy Cow Health Monitoring Program. The voluntary program is aimed at providing critical data on the status of dairy herds in Pennsylvania and detecting HPAI as quickly as possible should it arrive in the commonwealth.

The state herd monitoring program calls for conducting a weekly test of milk from a farm for three weeks, said extension veterinarian Ernest Hovingh, who is also a clinical professor of veterinary and biomedical sciences and director of Penn States Animal Diagnostic Laboratory. If all tests are negative and no clinical signs of the disease are observed, the herd is considered unaffected. At that point, weekly testing would continue, to ensure that the herd remains free of the virus.

He noted that unaffected herds are cleared for interstate transport of animals without any additional testing. For herds that do not participate in the monitoring program, Department of Agriculture regulations require testing of animals prior to movement across state lines.

Because Penn State does not move dairy cows across state lines, our herd has not been subjected to testing so far, Hovingh said. But participating in this program will allow us to determine if our herd is in fact HPAI-free, as strongly expected, and also will provide additional data to inform state and national surveillance efforts.

The chances of getting a positive test result are very remote, he added, but if that happens, Penn State and state officials will immediately investigate further.

Penn State attending veterinarian Jacob Werner, who oversees the health and well-being of all University livestock, said he and managers at the Penn State dairy barns have seen no signs to suggest that the virus is present in the herd, but it will be good to have testing data to confirm those observations.

We have a biosecurity plan in place to minimize the chances of bringing any diseases, including HPAI, into our herd, and we screen for sick cows regularly and consistently, Werner said. Drops in feed intake and milk production are two hallmark signs of most affected herds, and we monitor closely for those symptoms. We also dont import any animals into our herd, which appears to be the biggest risk factor for introducing HPAI infection to dairy herds.

Even in the unlikely event that the testing of Penn States herd brings back a positive result, Hovingh pointed out that in accordance with the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations Pasteurized Milk Ordinance, milk from sick cows does not leave the dairy and, therefore, does not enter the food supply.

In addition, all milk from Penn State cows is pasteurized before being sold for human consumption, he said. Numerous studies have shown that pasteurization inactivates pathogens such as avian flu viruses, and the Food and Drug Administration has confirmed that pasteurized milk and milk products are safe for human consumption.

Penn State will release the HPAI status of its dairy herd after the initial series of three weekly tests is completed, Hovingh said.

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Penn State tests dairy herd for bird flu in support of state surveillance effort - Penn State University

Colorado health officials identified two more cases of the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza bird flu in humans over the weekend, bringing the case count in the state to seven people who worked with inflected birds.

A worker at a northeast Colorado commercial egg layer in Weld County, where five other cases occurred, was confirmed sick on Friday. On Saturday, officials identified another presumptive positive case in a worker at a separate poultry farm in Weld County.

Another Colorado resident contracted the virus from infected cattle earlier this month.

The cluster of cases, comprising eight people in Colorado, accounts for most of the bird flu cases in humans in the country.

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The recently infected workers were dealing directly with infected poultry and experienced mild symptoms such as pink eye and respiratory infection symptoms. Officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture said last week that heat could have prevented proper use of personal protective equipment, exposing the workers to the virus.

Thirteen counties in Colorado have at least one poultry flock with a bird flu outbreak, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Weld County has 12 affected flocks, accounting for over 9 million birds. There have also been 28 cattle herds with confirmed cases in Colorado, according to the USDA.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment says it is safe to eat properly handled and cooked poultry products, as the proper handling and cooking of meat and eggs kills viruses. The risk of bird flu to the general public is low and there has not been evidence of the virus spreading from person to person.

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Everyday consumers and the dairy industry have not seen broad changes to the milk on store shelves or the broader markets four months after the first cattle tested positive for bird flu.

While individual farmers may have lost out on revenue, the broader economy has been spared because the outbreaks of avian influenza have been fairly contained and not widespread, according to academics who study dairy markets and industry groups.

While a case hasnt been reported in Missouri or Illinois, 160 cow herds in 13 U.S. states have reported positive tests, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. There are 24,094 dairy farms nationwide, according to the 2022 U.S. Census of Agriculture.

Rather fortunately for the industry and for consumers, we haven't seen major impacts yet, said Chuck Nicholson, a University of WisconsinMadison agricultural economics professor. I will hope that we don't see major impacts going forward, but, with any kind of epidemiological situation that we have going on, the future can be quite uncertain.

Since late March when tests first confirmed bird flu in dairy cattle, milk prices have held steady and will likely tick up slowly, Nicholson said. While there is little data on dairy consumer trends, there is little evidence to suggest that bird flu has spooked them either.

It's not been something that has been affecting the consumer marketplace, and we haven't seen signs of it, said Alan Bjerga, a spokesperson for the National Milk Producers Federation. Honestly, if there were to be a panic, you would think that it would have happened by now.

As of May, the latest available month, the industry price of milk or what farmers are paid stood at $22 per 100 pounds, USDA data shows.

If avian flu spreads more dramatically across the country, however, consumers and the dairy industry could notice, Nicholson said.

When cows test positive for bird flu, their milk is not put on the market for a couple weeks. Lactating cows sick with the virus can get a fever and produce a thickened, discolored milk. Generally within 30 days, most animals recover but their milk production may not return to normal right away, said Mark Ernst, Illinois State Veterinarian.

Under normal market circumstances, a decrease of just a couple percentage points of milk production in the U.S. can boost the industry price of milk. In turn, some of those hikes are typically passed onto consumers.

Whether or not that happens depends on the future trends of the virus, Nicholson said.

Nothing to say that that will happen but we don't have anything yet to say that it won't happen, he said. So I think it really is kind of a stay tuned situation.

Several Midwestern states have ramped up testing for the virus. Iowa and Michigan have opted for more requirements than others.

The USDA recently announced the federal agency will pay dairy farmers with infected cattle 90% of the value of the milk lost, somewhat similar to crop insurance.

In Illinois, the state department of agriculture recently said it will require testing for lactating dairy cattle for exhibitions like county and state fairs to avoid spreading bird flu.

It really has not been detrimental to the dairy industry like what the poultry industry faced a couple of years ago, said Tasha Bunting, the executive director of the Illinois Milk Producers.

While cattle often make a full recovery from the virus, poultry do not. To avoid further spreading, animal health officials require all birds in the infected flock are killed. Since this version of the highly pathogenic avian influenza first appeared in 2022, more than 99 million birds have died due to the virus, according to the USDA.

The dairy industry is now focusing on messaging around the bird flu in order to reassure customers that milk products are safe, Bunting said.

The dairy products that theyre purchasing at the stores are going through a vetted process that ensures the health and safety of that product because of pasteurization, she said.

Keeping consumers happy is important given the history of American milk consumption.

Demand for milk as a beverage has been dropping since the middle of the 20th century, USDA data shows. Per capita, consumption is down from 33.4 gallons per year in 1945 to 15.6 gallons in 2021.

As a whole, the decrease in demand for dairy products is much smaller because the American population continues to grow. Milk consumed as a beverage also only accounts for about 30% of overall consumption. The demand for other milk products, like cheese, is growing, Nicholson said.

In terms of the total demand for milk products, both within the U.S. and outside of the U.S., we're still on a growth path despite that beverage milk trend going down, he said.

Oddly enough, anecdotal evidence suggests milk consumption actually rose in some places in the few weeks following the first reports of bird flu in dairy cattle, which is not what the industry expected, Bjerga said.

In some ways almost counterintuitively it may have reminded people just how valuable milk is to their diet, he said.

This story was produced in partnership withHarvest Public Media, a collaboration of public media newsrooms in the Midwest. It reports on food systems, agriculture and rural issues.

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Bird flu hasnt affected overall milk production or prices but that could change - STLPR

The outdoor temperature flirted with 100 degrees and heat advisories blanketed the region earlier this month as workers arrived at a commercial poultry operation in Weld County to start killing chickens.

Of the 1.8 million egg-laying hens inside the operations barns, at least some were infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza bird flu. The strain of the virus that is now circling the globe has shown a remarkable ability to infect all kinds of animals, from seals to skunks to mountain lions. But it spreads most rapidly and lethally in wild birds and domestic poultry.

When a commercial flock is infected, standard practice is grim but efficient: Kill all the birds at the farm, devastating one operation in the hopes of stopping the virus and sparing the rest of the industry. By the time the workers in Weld County were done, though, some discovered that the virus had survived at least for one infection longer. It had found a new host: Their own bodies.

The unprecedented cluster of six cases of bird flu reported this month in Colorado is the largest outbreak of human cases in the United States from the current strain in fact, it is the only time in this country that more than one person has been confirmed to be infected from a single incident. And there is a possibility the outbreak may be worse than the headlines.

Colorado health officials tested at least 69 workers who showed flu-like symptoms, out of more than 150 workers who were at the farm. Of those, only six have tested positive three of those cases were confirmed initially by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while three others were confirmed later, most recently on Friday.

Combined with another human case reported in the state this month a dairy worker who had contact with infected cattle as well as the states worst-in-the-nation outbreak of bird flu cases on dairy farms, Colorado has become the epicenter of bird flu in the U.S.

A state health official last week said public health agencies are monitoring more than 700 people who may have been exposed to bird flu, looking for signs to see if they were infected. A team from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention arrived in Colorado to help track the epidemiological evidence.

But the outbreak has also shined a light on a much more mundane factor in the infections: Those soaring temperatures.

The CDC says that workers who have contact with infected animals should wear a thick suit of personal protective equipment, or PPE.

Head covering, goggles, mask, water-resistant coveralls, apron, gloves and boots. In a drawing of the outfit on the CDC website, only slivers of a workers forehead and cheekbones are uncovered.

But there are no requirements for workers to wear PPE. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued only recommendations. The state has no requirements, either.

The result is that workers may not be wearing PPE in bird flu hot zones.

My understanding is that PPE is available to workers, but theres not been 100% uptake in the use of PPE, Dr. Rachel Herlihy, the state epidemiologist, said in an interview last week. Weve been working very closely with the producer to ensure improvements are made in uptake of PPE in workers. Theres been significant work to train workers on the use of PPE.

This is where the weather comes in. All that PPE designed to be fairly un-breathable, in order to keep pathogens out is hot.

While temperatures outside were scorching, it was likely even hotter inside the barns where the workers were culling birds. Workers may have chosen to forego PPE or taken it off. Sweat running down faces made goggles fog up and masks slip. Large fans pushed around air, likely laden with virus, and ruffled PPE.

Every crack in the protective armor provided an opportunity for the virus to slip through.

Its really difficult to try and control the weather right now, Herlihy said.

While the difficulties of working in extreme heat might explain the outbreak, they dont offer an excuse for not better protecting workers, some experts said.

Thats absolutely crazy to me, said Jennifer Nuzzo, a nationally recognized epidemiologist who is the director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University School of Public Health in Rhode Island. Putting people into a situation where they are culling birds that are known to be infected without sufficient protection is just gambling with their lives.

Nuzzo said officials could have considered waiting to do the culling until temperatures subsided. Or they could have sent workers in for shorter shifts.

Bird flu has not resulted in any serious infections in humans in the United States so far. The workers in Colorado who tested positive had symptoms ranging from eye redness all the way up to classic flu symptoms of fever, chills and cough. All were offered the antiviral drug Tamiflu and told to isolate themselves. None required hospital treatment.

Herlihy, the state epidemiologist, said her agency takes seriously the health of workers who have contact with infected animals.

Im certainly concerned about workers that have exposures, she said.

There is no evidence of the virus spreading person-to-person. Wastewater testing and data from hospital emergency department visits do not indicate that the virus is silently spreading. This means the risk to the general public remains low and mostly confined to contact with infected animals.

Nuzzo said this is all important for the public to keep in mind.

My concern for a potential pandemic is growing, she said. I wouldnt call it high yet.

But, despite the mild illnesses, Nuzzo said flu viruses should not be taken lightly. In the wrong circumstances, they do have the ability to cause severe illness as this bird flu virus has in other parts of the world. And every infection of a person is a chance for the virus to evolve and crack the code on more efficiently spreading to other people.

Nuzzo said that makes it vitally important to better protect farm workers, for their own health and for the health of others. She pointed to the example of Finland, which is offering bird flu vaccinations to farmworkers as a precaution.

I think were maybe a little bit naive about the potential of this virus, she said. Theres a thought that its going to whip through and be gone. But Im here to tell you, flu viruses dont disappear.

Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.

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Extreme heat in Colorado may have contributed to an extraordinary outbreak of bird flu in people - The Colorado Sun

The Summary

Four poultry workers in Colorado who recently contracted bird flu bring the total of human cases in the U.S. to at least nine.

Though that number is small, disease researchers say commonalities between the cases all but one of which were reported in the last four months are enough to start assembling a picture of how the virus may affect people.

The U.S. cases have been relatively mild and limited to farm workers who had handled infected animals a sign that the virus in its current state isnt a major threat to humans.

Some patients have reported typical flu symptoms such as fever, chills, cough, sore throat or runny nose. Many have had conjunctivitis or pink eye.

One thing that we can conclude is that the current strain of the virus isnt well adapted for human infection, and may not even be well adapted for infecting the lower respiratory tract, said Matthew Binnicker, director of the Clinical Virology Laboratory at the Mayo Clinic.

The cases stem from a global outbreak of H5N1, a particular strain of bird flu that took off in 2020 and has hit poultry and dairy farms in the U.S.

The countrys first human case was reported in April 2022, in a prison inmate who had culled birds at a farm in Colorado and whose only symptom was fatigue. Texas reported the second case in April, followed by two in Michigan and five in Colorado the four most recent of which were confirmed over the weekend.

The cases' mild nature stands in contrast to the flus effect on birds and some mammals including seals, sea lions, foxes, skunks and cats that have died from the virus. Since January 2022, more than 99 million wild aquatic birds, commercial poultry and backyard flocks in the U.S. have been affected, which means they either died of the virus or were culled to prevent further transmission. And roughly 160 dairy cow herds have been struck since the virus was first detected in cows in March.

This H5N1 strain is considered highly pathogenic, a term that, when used in the context of bird flu, means it has a high potential to kill chickens.

Hearing about such a virus really scares people, but that term is really a USDA term for what happens in poultry, said John Lednicky, a research professor of environmental and global health at the University of Florida. Just because its highly pathogenic in birds doesnt mean its highly pathogenic in mammals or humans.

Lednicky added that some strains of H5N1 are deadly in humans, while others are not.

Of the more than 900 total cases of H5N1 strains in people reported globally since 1997, around half have been fatal. But in the last two years, the global mortality rate has been lower: around 27%. And even then, those numbers largely reflect just the people who were sick enough to seek treatment.

Dr. Peter Palese, a microbiology professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, said patients in that tally are those whove been hospitalized and who, in retrospect, have been in contact with large amounts of virus.

Paleses 2012 research, which examined blood samples from 12,500 people without a documented bird flu infection, found that 1% to 2% of them may have previously been infected with H5N1.

Experts still worry, though, that the virus could someday mutate into a version that causes more severe disease or that spreads from person to person. (So far, all transmission has been from animals to humans.)

The concern is that as more animals are infected, and then more people are infected, the virus will change, Binnicker said.

Of the nine U.S. bird flu patients, seven reported pink eye.

That includes all four of the recent cases in Colorado, which were linked to an outbreak at a commercial farm in Weld County. The workers had been culling poultry.

The state reported earlier this month that another patient there, a dairy worker who had been exposed to infected cattle, also developed pink eye.

Texas one case involved conjunctivitis without other symptoms. That person worked with dairy cows and developed redness and discomfort in their right eye in March. According to a case study in the New England Journal of Medicine, the person reported wearing gloves but no eye protection on the job.

Conjunctivitis isnt the most common symptom of bird flu in humans, but it has been documented in some people infected with different strains, such as in a 2003 outbreak of H7N7 in the Netherlands.

Scientists said a few factors could explain the symptoms recent prevalence. One is that farm workers arent consistently covering their eyes when dealing with sick animals. As a result, dairy workers could get raw milk which has been shown to carry the virus in their eyes.

Thats likely what happened to a dairy worker in Michigan who developed mild conjunctivitis and was confirmed to have bird flu in May.

The virus may also enter peoples eyes through respiratory droplets or aerosols (tiny airborne droplets). Or, some workers could have touched their eyes after handling infected animals or contaminated raw milk.

The receptor on the cells that the virus needs to bind to is pretty prevalent in cells in the eye, and that could be one explanation as to why were seeing conjunctivitis in individuals infected with avian flu, Binnicker said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends treating people with bird flu with antivirals. Some of the U.S. patients have received Tamiflu, a drug also used to treat seasonal influenza.

The studies that have been done so far have shown that Tamiflu is effective at treating the currently circulating strain of avian influenza, Binnicker said. It usually needs to get administered within 48 hours of symptom onset to be most effective.

The reason that all but one of the U.S. cases have been reported since April, scientists say, may come down to two factors. First, the virus is spreading at a rapid clip among birds and sporadically infecting other animals, such as domestic cats, thereby increasing the odds of human exposure. Second, health departments have started monitoring and testing people exposed to infected animals if they develop symptoms.

The CDC estimates that at least 10,600 people have been monitored for bird flu and at least 375 have been tested since the outbreak in commercial poultry started in 2022.

There probably is a much higher amount of virus out there today compared to a year ago, but were also picking up more cases because were testing more, Binnicker said.

Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, chief medical executive for the state of Michigan, said local health departments there have been screening for even the faintest of symptoms.

I think thats why were seeing the mild cases, she said. Its because of this active symptom monitoring that were doing.

The Michigan worker who had conjunctivitis, for instance, didnt even seek out a doctor before being tested for bird flu. Michigans other case was a farmworker working with infected cows, who reported a sore throat, cough and congestion to local health officials.

Bagdasarian said the fact that Michigan has only seen two cases after testing roughly 60 people suggests humans need lots of exposure to get sick. The workers who tested positive also werent wearing full personal protective equipment and had been involved in tasks like milking cows or administering fluids to them, she said.

Were not talking about folks who had transient contact with these animals, who walked past a barn or a pen, Bagdasarian said. Were not talking about people who just touched a cow once.

Aria Bendix is the breaking health reporter for NBC News Digital.

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What scientists know about bird flu symptoms from the first 9 U.S. human cases - NBC News

An additional worker became infected with the H5N1 avian flu virus while culling sick hens at a Colorado egg farm, saystate public health officials, raising the U.S. total of infected workers to 11, all with mild symptoms. Eight of the cases, seven involving poultry and one involving dairy, have occurred in Colorado.

The Centers for Disease Control says the risk to the general public from the disease is low. It recommends using protective equipment, such as goggles, masks, and gloves, by people in contact with infected or possibly infected animals.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said six workers, one more than reported earlier, contracted bird flu while killing and disposing of H5N1-infected hens on a poultry farm in Weld County, northeast of Boulder. The workers had mild symptoms, including conjunctivitis [pink eye] and common respiratory infection symptoms. None were hospitalized, the agency said.

In addition, a Colorado dairy farmworker contracted bird flu in early July; and in 2022 a correctional inmate participating in a pre-release program was infected with the virus. Since April, three other dairy farmworkers, in Michigan and Texas, have been diagnosed with bird flu.

Some 100.4 million birds in domestic flocks, mostly egg-laying hens and turkeys being raised for meat, have died of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) since the disease appeared in the United States in February 2022, says aUSDA database. Thats twice as many as in an HPAI outbreak in 201415 that was described as the greatest animal disease event in U.S. history.

Since late March, the virus has been confirmed in163 dairy herdsin 13 states from Idaho to Michigan. Colorado has the most, 42 herds, followed by 30 in Idaho, and 26 in Michigan.

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Seventh poultry worker in Colorado with bird flu - Successful Farming

The answer to curbing influenza could be right under our noses or, more accurately, inside them. New research maps happenings in the nose during the course of influenza in exquisite detail, and could potentially lead to new targets and more effective nasal flu vaccines.

The nose is often the gateway to respiratory infections, where viruses first set up shop and start replicating. But strangely, the immune response in the nose has been relatively unexplored.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has traditionally covered the lung through the trachea, and another NIH institute funds research for craniofacial and dental disorders, says Boston Childrens Hospital researcher Jos Ordovs-Montas, PhD. Where does the nose fit?

Ordovs-Montas first took on this underfunded body part during the COVID-19 pandemic. His lab showed that people who developed severe COVID-19 had weak antiviral responses in the nose and throat.In new work led by Samuel Kazer, PhD, the team analyzed what happened in the noses of mice during flu infection.

Unlike the COVID study, which analyzed patients nasal swabs at a single point in time, the new study tracked events throughout the nose, including parts not reachable with a nasal swab, throughout a flu episode. To better understand immune memory, the researchers resampled the mice after a second influenza infection. They published their findings last week in the journal Immunity.

Over the course of infection, the researchers sequenced the RNA of thousands of individual cells in the nasal mucosa (the tissue lining the nasal cavity) in all, more than 150,000 readouts over two weeks. This created a dynamic atlas, cataloguing what kinds of cells were there and how each was responding. The team identified 127 cell types and subtypes, including the epithelial cells that line the mucosa, multiple types of immune cells, cells making up connective tissue, and even neurons that facilitate smell.

We saw lots of interesting cellular diversity within this micro-anatomy, says Ordovs-Montas. When we sample people with swabs, we just scrape the surface. Sam was able to look at the full tissue.

Different cells came and went during influenza infection. For example, neutrophils (first-responder immune cells) appeared almost immediately, but left once the virus was cleared. Tissue-resident memory T cells (TRM cells), which maintain memory of an infection in the tissue, showed up around day 14. They remained in the nose thereafter, right through the second bout of flu, as did plasmablasts, which matured into antibody-producing plasma cells.

One previously undescribed group of cells took the stage one to two weeks after the start of infection. Dubbed Krt13+ nasal immune-interacting floor epithelial cells (KNIIFE cells), they run along the bottom of the nasal cavity, just above the palate of the mouth. Kazers expertise at the intersection of biology and computational science made their discovery possible, says Ordovs-Montas.

We almost threw those cells out because they looked so weird, he adds.

These cells may be key to the more rapid, coordinated immune responses the team saw during the second influenza infection.

KNIIFE cells express many genes associated with immune function that were not used to seeing in epithelial cells, Kazer elaborates. They expand after the virus is cleared, in the same anatomical location as the TRM cells. We think they may help maintain the memory of an infection.

The team is now further exploring the role of KNIIFE cells and plans to correlate the findings from mice with nasal-swab data from people with influenza and from children seen at Boston Childrens Hospital with other viral infections. Kazer hopes their work will one day lead to a long-lasting nasal vaccine that could limit the spread of disease beyond the nose by helping the nose remember the flu virus.

Memory can take place in many types of cells, he says. Understanding how memory looks in a barrier tissue like the nasal mucosa is some basic biology were trying to get at.

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Tracking influenza in its first battleground: The nose - Boston Children's Discoveries

Vaccines during pregnancy can protect both parent and fetus from serious infections. Examples of the vaccinations doctors usually recommend include Tdap, the flu vaccine, and a COVID-19 booster.

Pregnancy alters the immune system, making it more likely that people will get serious symptoms from certain infections. Sometimes serious infections can lead to pregnancy complications.

Vaccines can reduce this risk and can also boost the immunity of the baby from birth. However, not all vaccinations are safe during pregnancy.

Read on to learn more about the vaccines that are beneficial, which to avoid, and when to get them.

In the United States, doctors recommend several vaccines for pregnant individuals, including:

The following sections explore these vaccines in more detail.

The Tdap vaccine protects against three bacterial diseases that can be very serious in children. They are:

When a person receives Tdap during pregnancy, their body begins making antibodies for these bacteria, giving them protection should they contract the bacteria in the future.

However, these antibodies also pass to the fetus, giving them immunity from all three conditions, too.

Doctors recommend administering a dose of the Tdap vaccine during each pregnancy, ideally early in the third trimester.

People who are pregnant or postpartum are more likely to get severe flu symptoms and complications than others. The seasonal flu vaccine reduces this risk.

The flu vaccine works by stimulating the bodys immune system so that it knows how to respond to the newest strains of flu virus circulating during a given flu season.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises that people who are or will be pregnant during flu season receive either the inactivated influenza vaccine or recombinant influenza vaccine. These vaccines contain no living virus.

Doctors should not give the live attenuated influenza vaccine during pregnancy. It contains a live but weakened form of flu virus, which could theoretically pose a risk to the fetus.

Pregnant people are at a higher risk of complications from COVID-19 than people who are not pregnant.

As a result, the CDC recommends that individuals should stay up to date with COVID-19 booster vaccines if they are pregnant, trying to get pregnant, or if they are nursing.

Some people may feel hesitant about getting a vaccine that is still relatively new. However, a 2024 study involving over 100,000 babies in Sweden and Norway found that exposure to the COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy did not have any association with negative outcomes after birth.

In most situations, the benefits of vaccination outweigh the potential risks of getting COVID-19.

RSV is a common cause of serious respiratory infections in babies. People can get an RSV vaccine during pregnancy, which will protect the baby from birth onwards.

Alternatively, babies can receive an RSV vaccination after birth if they are under 8 months old during their first RSV season.

While some vaccines are safe during pregnancy, there are others people should avoid. These include:

Some of these vaccines contain weakened live microbes. Outside of pregnancy they usually do not cause problems, but because the microbes could affect the fetus, doctors do not generally give them to pregnant people.

Other vaccines on this list have little data showing they are safe for use during pregnancy, which is why doctors will usually try to avoid giving them.

If a person needs one of these vaccines, or they had one of them before finding out they were pregnant, they should speak with a doctor.

Typically, doctors recommend the following schedule for vaccines before, during, and after pregnancy:

If possible, people should aim to get the following vaccines at least 1 month prior to conceiving if they have not had them already:

Similarly, people who have recently received travel vaccines, such as the yellow fever vaccine, should wait at least 4 weeks before conceiving.

During pregnancy, people should get:

Alternatively, people can immunize the baby during their first RSV season if they are 8 months or younger.

It is safe to receive vaccines postpartum, even while breastfeeding. The only exception to this is the yellow fever vaccine. If a person needs this vaccine for travel that they cannot postpone, they should speak with a doctor.

Under certain circumstances, a doctor may recommend additional vaccines during pregnancy. This could be because a person:

For example, those at high risk of the following conditions may receive the:

Sometimes doctors also use vaccines as an emergency treatment. This may be necessary if a person becomes exposed to uncommon but potentially dangerous microbes, such as those that cause rabies, anthrax, or smallpox.

Certain vaccines may be necessary if a person is pregnant and needs to travel abroad. However, both parents and healthcare professionals need to consider this decision carefully.

Some travel vaccines sometimes contain live organisms. Others have not undergone testing in pregnant people. A doctor may suggest certain ones if the risk of getting the infection outweighs any potential risk of the vaccine. This could include:

The vaccines that doctors recommend during pregnancy are safe for parent and fetus.

Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) monitors vaccine safety in the United States and has been collecting data on any adverse outcomes since 1990. To date, it has found no evidence that Tdap has associations with:

Research has found no association between COVID-19 vaccination and adverse outcomes in newborns, and it does not increase the risk of pregnancy loss, preterm delivery, or stillbirth.

A 2021 study in Canada that involved following over 28,000 children over the first few years of life reached similar conclusions.

Specifically, the study found no association between the flu vaccine and health conditions, including:

It also notes that previous research has found no link with autism, epilepsy, or meningitis.

Most people who receive vaccines get mild or no side effects. If they do experience side effects, they often get better on their own in a few days.

The most common side effects of Tdap, COVID-19 boosters, and the flu vaccine are:

Occasionally, people can also have a mild fever. This can be a side effect that requires treatment in pregnant people. If a person experiences fever at any time, they should contact a doctor. They may give acetaminophen (Tylenol) to reduce it.

Below are some frequently asked questions about vaccines during pregnancy.

The 3-in-1 vaccine is another name for the Tdap vaccine, which protects against tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis, or whooping cough.

Yes, if a person wants to protect their baby from whooping cough, tetanus, and diphtheria, a Tdap vaccine is necessary during each pregnancy.

Vaccines during pregnancy are an important part of prenatal care, offering protection against infectious diseases for both the pregnant individual and the fetus.

While doctors recommend certain vaccines during pregnancy, individuals should approach others with caution.

Consultation with a healthcare professional is important to help ensure a person gets the vaccinations they need and at the right time.

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Vaccines during pregnancy: Benefits, risks, and schedule - Medical News Today

Avian influenza viruses have infected the worlds birds for millennia. We first became aware of them in the 19th century, when mass deaths of poultry triggered interest in what was then called fowl plague.

But in 2021, something fundamental changed. As the world grappled with COVID lockdowns and economic chaos, the birds of the world were encountering a new strain, known formally as Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N1 2.3.4.4.b. It spread easily and was capable of causing disease and death in a far wider number of bird species than previously seen before.

So far, it has triggered the culling of half a billion farmed birds and killed millions of wild birds. (This is a different strain to the HPAI H7 strains which have infected poultry farms in Australia).

If this new strain gets to Australia, carried on a migratory wild bird, it could pose similar risks to our unique wildlife. But we havent been sitting still. Australian researchers, governments, veterinarians and wildlife rehabilitators have been urgently preparing for its arrival.

This strain has now made it to every part of the world bar Australia, New Zealand and Pacific nations. The virus killed many birds in the northern hemisphere before crossing to the Americas. In South America it proved particularly lethal, infecting and killing massive numbers of birds and marine mammals such as sea lions.

Many strains of bird flu are low pathogenicity, meaning they tend not to cause severe disease. But these strains can evolve into highly pathogenic strains if they spill over from wild birds into poultry, as were seeing with the current outbreaks in poultry farms in Victoria, New South Wales and the ACT.

Prior to 2024, Australia had experienced eight previous outbreaks of H7 HPAI in poultry, all of which were eradicated by culling poultry and isolating farms.

This new H5N1 2.3.4.4.b strain is much more worrying for our wildlife, because it transmits very easily between wild birds. It has proven it can kill mammals, including marine mammals, predators and scavenger species that eat birds.

It also poses a real threat to our poultry industries. If H5N1 2.3.4.4b were to enter Australia, we could see more outbreaks in domestic poultry, which in turn could affect the supply of chicken and eggs both very popular sources of animal protein in Australia.

Given the virus is present worldwide, including in Antarctica, you might wonder why it hasnt made it to Australia yet.

Avian influenza travels most easily in waterfowl such as ducks. Australias waterfowl are not migratory and only travel short distances between Australia and countries to the north.

But Australia is on the path of several flyways from Asia, along which millions of shorebirds migrate every year in spring. Some seabirds also migrate from the Atlantic.

The devastation the virus has caused overseas has given Australia time to prepare.

We cant stop wild birds from migrating here. But we can slow the spread and protect at-risk wildlife from other threats such as invasive predators, giving them the best chance to survive the virus if it arrives.

Around Australia and on our sub-Antarctic islands, a network of veterinarians, researchers, government officials, rangers and wildlife rehabilitators is on alert looking for sick birds with signs, such as respiratory illness.

If a bird showing these signs is spotted, they will call the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline (1800 675 888). Members of the public are also encouraged to report sightings.

Other plans for the virus include:

We have created information toolboxes to help wildlife managers and carers to manage risk and reduce transmission if the virus is confirmed here. These include improving baseline biosecurity, clearing away carcasses, restricting human movement to reduce spread, and euthanasing dying birds.

For threatened species, we can explore the merits of vaccination trials for captive birds. New Zealand authorities are trialling this method.

But such vaccination must ultimately serve the welfare interests of wildlife. There are many complexities to consider.

Globally, vaccination of free-ranging wild birds has occurred for just one species the endangered Californian condor, considered particularly at risk because of its low numbers.

Overseas, waterfowl, shorebirds and seabirds have proven especially susceptible to the virus. Avian predators are also at risk if they eat sick birds or their carcasses.

Specific data on Australian species are limited, but at least one local species, the black swan, has been found to be highly vulnerable to the virus because they lack some protective genes.

The sheer variation of our ecosystems might offer some protection. We have many transient bodies of water, such as Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre. If the virus arrived during a period of drought, it could have a different impact than if it arrived during flooding rains, which fill lakes and encourage movement of wild waterfowl.

Because this strain is very new, we dont know yet what the long term outcome will be.

Its possible birds which survive an infection will become immune and survive to breed. But some species and populations may not be able to survive this first assault.

This threat is new territory for Australia. Many of the other animal diseases we worry about and prepare for only attack one species, such as African swine fever, or only affect non-native wildlife (such as foot and mouth disease). But this strain of bird flu has attacked over 500 bird species and is infecting a growing number of mammal species.

What can you do? Keep an eye out for any sick or dead birds and call the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline if you do.

Read more: Chickens, ducks, seals and cows: a dangerous bird flu strain is knocking on Australia's door

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Lethal bird flu could decimate Oceanias birds. From vigilance to vaccines, heres what were doing to prepare - The Conversation