Discussion thread: H5N1 avian flu in US dairy cows including human cases (poultry, dairy workers) - March 24, 2024 +

[Pathfinder]

FAO assesses risk of foodborne avian influenza A (H5N1) transmission as negligible


14/06/2024
...
The only people who have contracted avian influenza A (H5N1) are those with close contact with live or dead animals with the disease. Thus, it is the contact with infected, sick, or animals— from breathing the virus into the lungs or contact with the eyes—that poses a risk for human infection, albeit this risk is low to moderate. Individuals in contact with infected animals should take precautions, like wearing protective equipment, to reduce their risks of infection.

When it comes to food, the avian influenza A (H5N1) virus was reported in meat and in eggs from infected poultry over 25 years ago. More recently, fragments of non-infectious virus have been detected in pasteurized milk and in the muscle tissue from one infected dairy cow. Pasteurization and cooking are extremely effective at destroying the virus, reducing the risk that consumers will be exposed to infectious viruses. There have been no confirmed cases of people becoming infected from eating foods contaminated with avian influenza A (H5N1) virus.

Consumption of only milk that has been pasteurized and fully cooking eggs and meat is strongly encouraged, as these food safety practices reduce the risks associated with other microbiological hazards (e.g. Salmonella, Listeria) in foods. Consumers should feel confident that they will not acquire avian influenza A (H5N1) from food. FAO continues to follow the science surrounding this issue and will update their assessment as necessary.

...

https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/national-international-government-ngo-preparation-response/fao/992127-fao-assesses-risk-of-foodborne-avian-influenza-a-h5n1-transmission-as-negligible-14-06-2024

[Pathfinder]

Influenza A Virus Wastewater Data

Updated June 13, 2024

Main Findings from Wastewater Surveillance

During the two most recent weeks, (May 26, 2024–June 8, 2024), a total of 345 of 737 sites reported data meeting criteria for analysis for influenza A virus for both weeks or for either week, and 2 (<1%) sites from 1 state were at a high level (>80th percentile compared to levels recorded at that site between October 1, 2023 and March 2, 2024).
...
Data Table
...
Id:498 7 Illinois Will Above Average 69.44 Two-Week Maximum 50,000 2022-10-10
Id:1738 7 Oregon Linn Above Average 60.87 Two-Week Maximum 60,000 2021-09-29
Id:472 7 Illinois Madison Above Average 67.86 Two-Week Maximum 30,000 2022-12-12
Id:1729 7 Oregon Jackson Above Average 60.0 Two-Week Maximum 20,000 2021-09-27
Id:1755 7 Oregon Washington Above Average 61.9 Two-Week Maximum 40,000 2021-09-15
Id:1734 8 Oregon Lane Above Average 76.19 Two-Week Maximum 240,000 2021-09-27
Id:547 7 Kansas Johnson Above Average 62.16 Two-Week Maximum 70,000 2023-09-17
Id:362-B 8 Hawaii Honolulu Above Average 76.47 Two-Week Maximum 20,000 2023-06-26
Id:487 10 Illinois Saint Clair High 97.44 Two-Week Maximum 90,000 2022-10-06
Id:476 9 Illinois Morgan High 80.65 Two-Week Maximum 20,000 2022-10-05
...

https://www.cdc.gov/nwss/wastewater-surveillance/Flu-A-data.html

[Treyfish]

Avian flu spread in cows not being tracked, posing greater risk of human transmission


Mark Lyons, a senior USDA animal health official, said federal officials are “still working closely to understand the breadth” of the bird flu outbreak in the nation’s dairy herds.
By DAVID LIM and MEREDITH LEE HILL

06/17/2024 05:00 AM EDT
Reliance on individual dairy farmers to help track the spread of avian flu is leaving the federal government without the data necessary to understand — and slow — the virus’ spread in the U.S.

The biggest challenge for the federal response, agriculture and public health officials told POLITICO, is that the more the virus spreads among dairy cows, the more opportunity it has to mutate and become easier to jump to additional humans. The number of documented infected dairy herds in recent weeks has risen rapidly — and several other states have confirmed initial infections in cows.

.... But many dairy farmers are declining to test their cows, leaving the nation vulnerable to a situation in which federal officials won’t have adequate warning if the virus evolves and poses a greater risk of infection to people.

“The longer this is prevalent in animal farms and livestock operations across the state, the greater the opportunity is for future mutations in animals or human risks in different ways going forward,”

......The federal response is largely focusing on voluntary efforts by farmers to help track and contain the outbreak. But many farms still have not signed up for USDA efforts to boost surveillance and testing for the virus. To date, 94 herds across 12 states have tested positive for bird flu, but the testing has covered a mere fraction of the nation’s nine million dairy cattle. Only about 45 exposed and symptomatic humans have been tested for avian flu, CDC Principal Deputy Director Nirav Shah said in a Thursday briefing with reporters.....

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/17/avian-flu-spread-response-00163294

[Treyfish]

1 day left to register for #NFID #CME webinar on 6/18/24 at 12PM ET with experts from

Learn more and register online: http://nfid.org/webinars

[Treyfish]

Scientists try to solve bird flu mystery: Why there's so much virus in Michigan wastewater

Kristen Jordan Shamus
Detroit Free Press


Newly released wastewater surveillance data suggests Michigan is a national hot spot for the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus that's infecting poultry, dairy cows and other mammals across the US, and has also been identified in three farmworkers — two in Michigan.

Researchers told the Free Press they're still trying to understand exactly why samples from all six of Michigan's wastewater testing sites monitored by WastwaterSCAN show high levels of the H5 influenza A virus — the most detections of any of the 38 states with sampling sites — even in areas like Jackson and Warren, where there are no known H5N1 outbreaks among dairy cows, poultry or people this year.

"It's clear that there's something going on," said......

Among the questions scientists are trying to answer:

• Are there more infected dairy cattle in the state than is currently known?
• Are people unknowingly infected, carrying the virus and excreting H5 particles into the wastewater system?
• Or is there some other source that's causing Michigan's H5 wastewater detections to rise above other states?

.....
from 38 of the 50 states and the District of Columbia dating to May 21.

Only six states had detections of the virus in the wastewater — California, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan and Texas — as of Monday. Of them all, Michigan was the only state with high levels detected at each of its six testing sites: Ann Arbor, Jackson, Jenison, Mount Pleasant, Traverse City and Warren.

.....
"Clearly, there's a lot of virus in the wastewater," said Richard Webby, director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Studies on the Ecology of Influenza in Animals and Birds and a member of the faculty at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Whether that virus is coming from waste runoff from cattle farms with infected cows or other animals, discharge of untreated milk into the wastewater system from production facilities, or someplace else, however, isn't easy to untangle.....

https://www.freep.com/story/news/hea...r/74047810007/

[Commonground]

Illinois State Fair will begin soon.
Last year:
700,000 attendees
SPRINGFIELD, IL - Today, Governor JB Pritzker announced record-setting attendance totals for the 2023 Illinois State Fair. The more than 700,000 attendees over the 11-day event make the 2023 fair the most highly attended fair since industry standards were enacted.

There is NO mention of H5N1, Avian Influenza in Dairy Cows mentioned here in this years requirements to attend.

For Health Requirement Information:

Illinois Department of Agriculture Bureau of Animal Health and Welfare State Fairgrounds P.O. Box 19281 Springfield, IL 62794-9281 Phone (217) 782-4944

2024 Exhibition Livestock Health Requirements State Fairs

Excerpt:

1. CVI means a legible record made on an official form from the state of origin which has been issued, signed and dated by an accredited veterinarian and which shows the name and address of the animal’s owner or exhibitor and the results of all required tests or vaccinations. A CVI shall list only one animal identification per line; shall be presented on the form on which it was initially issued; and shall not be corrected, changed or altered in any manner.
2. All animals shall be officially identified. The animal(s) official identification shall be recorded on the CVI.

Animal identification number (AIN): A numbering system for the official identification of individual animals in the United States that provides a nationally unique identification number for each animal. The AIN consists of 15 digits, with the first 3 being the country code (840 for the United States or a unique country code for any U.S. territory that has such a code and elects to use it in place of the 840 code).

4. If animals are from tuberculosis accredited, brucellosis certified, pseudorabies qualified, or brucellosis validated herds, the identifying herd number(s) along with the date of the last herd test(s) shall appear on the CVI.

1. CVIs for out-of-state livestock shall be void thirty (30) days after issuance.
2. CVIs for Illinois-origin livestock shall be void ninety (90) days after issuance.
3. All livestock shall be subject to examination upon entry to any Illinois fair or exhibition. Any animal showing evidence of infectious, contagious or communicable diseases shall be immediately withdrawn and held in quarantine at the owner’s risk and expense until properly treated and recovered, or until the animal is released to return to the owner’s premise.
   
   Any livestock infected with scabies, mange, active lesions of ringworm, soremouth, or multiple warts which are easily visible without close examination shall not be permitted to exhibit and are subject to quarantine or removal from the fairgrounds.
   
   Sheep and goats with caseous lymphadenitis as evidenced by draining abscesses shall not be exhibited and are subject to immediate quarantine or removal from the fairgrounds.
   
   In the event of the suspicion of or diagnosis of a foreign animal disease, emerging animal disease, or other actionable disease, animals may be subject to quarantine on the fairgrounds until such time that it is determined that the disease is no longer a threat.

-SNIP-

CATTLE

Identification

Individual identification of each animal shall be by a USDA official animal identification number ear tag, (“840” tag).
Beginning in 2025, the tag must be able to be read both visually and electronically.

Illinois Cattle

Brucellosis
Illinois is a Bovine Brucellosis Class-Free State. Brucellosis testing is not required for Illinois cattle.

TuberculosisIllinois is an Accredited Tuberculosis- Free State. Tuberculin testing is not required for Illinois cattle.

Please note: Illinois calves under 6 months of age are not required to have a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection.

Out-of-State-Cattle

All out-of-state cattle are to be accompanied by an entry permit. Entry permit numbers are available online at https://entrypermit.agr.illinois.gov/Login.aspx.

Brucellosis

1. Female cattle six (6) months of age and older and bulls eighteen (18) months of age and older
   
   shall be negative to an official test for brucellosis within thirty (30) days prior to entry, unless exempt by one (1) of the following:
   
   A. Originate directly from a certified brucellosis-free herd.
   B. Official vaccinates of dairy breeds under twenty (20) months of age or official
   
   vaccinates of beef breeds under twenty-four (24) months of age.
   C. Animaloriginatedfroma“ClassFree”state(ifentirestat eissoclassified) D. Steers and spayed heifers are not required to be tested for brucellosis.
2. The negative brucellosis test shall be conducted at a state or federal laboratory within 30 days prior to exhibition.

Tuberculosis

1. Accredited Tuberculosis Free States
   
   A. No tuberculin test required. All cattle, including steers, originating from an Accredited Tuberculosis Free State, may enter Illinois for exhibition when accompanied by a CVI issued by an accredited veterinarian within 30 days.
2. Non-Accredited Tuberculosis Free Areas or States (Not TB Free)
   A. Cattle must originate from a herd where a complete herd test was conducted within the
   
   past year.

B. The individual animals entering Illinois must be negative to an additional tuberculin



3

Illinois Swine

test conducted within 30 days prior to exhibition.
C. CattlethatenterIllinoisforexhibitionandremaininIll inois(animaldoesnotreturnto

the state of origin within 30 days) must be isolated and retested for TB 60-120 days from the last official TB test date.

... https://statefair.illinois.gov/conte...fhealthreq.pdf

[sharon sanders]

Post




See new posts Conversation


Kai Kupferschmidt

@kakape
·
12h


One question at the heart of the #h5n1 outbreak in US cows has been: Is there something special about this virus? Or is H5N1 generally able to do this and this particular version was just "in the right place at the right time"? Quick thread, because it seems we have an answer


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Kai Kupferschmidt

@kakape
·
12h


Researchers in Germany have done an experiment in a high-security lab infecting cows directly with the strain of #H5N1 circulating in cows in the US (B3.13) and infecting others with an #h5n1 strain from a wild bird in Germany. (I wrote about the plans here:
Show more


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Kai Kupferschmidt

@kakape
·
12h


In both cases they infected the udders directly through the teats and in both cases the animals got sick. They "showed clear signs of disease such as a sharp drop in milk production, changes in milk consistency and fever." That suggests there is nothing special about B3.13.


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Kai Kupferschmidt

@kakape
·
12h


I would say that this was always the more plausible scenario (most researchers I talked to certainly felt that way) but this virus has surprised us so many times (as
@HelenBranswell
wrote up so nicely), so it's good to have data.

Bird flu keeps rewriting the textbooks. It’s why scientists are unsettled by the U.S. dairy cattle...
From statnews.com


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Kai Kupferschmidt

@kakape
·
12h


The result suggests two things (at the least): 1. There is a realistic risk of spillover to cows anywhere where #H5N1 is circulating. 2. A lot of things probably have to come together for this to happen, because in spite of the virus being widespread, cow infections are not.


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Kai Kupferschmidt

@kakape
·
12h


The researchers are writing up their results and hopefully we will have more information soon (because these experiments could help clarify other questions), but I'm glad that
@Loeffler_News
put out a short press release with this result

fli.de
Avian influenza: No evidence of H5N1 infection in dairy cows outside the USA
– German virus isolate can replicate in cow's udder after experimental infection


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Kai Kupferschmidt

@kakape
·
12h


While we are on Germany: It's worth pointing out that researchers have been testing milk samples here with PCR and testing cows for antibodies. So far 350 milk samples and 1400 cow serum samples have all been negative.


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Kai Kupferschmidt

@kakape


While the researchers say the risk of cattle here becoming infected with avian influenza appears very low, they also warn that "increased vigilance is recommended and HPAI H5 should also be considered in investigations, especially in the case of unclear and frequent cases of disease in dairy herds"
8:28 AM · Jun 20, 2024
·
9,336
Views

[Pathfinder]

From Kai Kupferschmidt (above):

... "in the right place at the right time"?
...
"The result suggests two things (at the least): 1. There is a realistic risk of spillover to cows anywhere where H5N1 is circulating. 2. A lot of things probably have to come together for this to happen, because in spite of the virus being widespread, cow infections are not."

Hat tip to Lance and Michael Coston for this link:
...
Since the first detection of the pathogen 27 years ago in many countries, particularly in Asia, there has been possible contact of ruminants such as water buffalo and cattle with the faeces of infected wild birds, but no similar infection events have ever been observed. The exact circumstances that led to the outbreak in the USA are still unknown.
...

https://www.fli.de/en/news/short-messages/short-message/gefluegelpest-keine-hinweise-auf-h5n1-infektionen-bei-milchkuehen-ausserhalb-der-usa/

[Pathfinder]

Influenza A Virus Wastewater Data

Updated June 20, 2024

Main Findings from Wastewater Surveillance

During the two most recent weeks, (June 2, 2024–June 15, 2024), a total of 328 of 727 sites reported data meeting criteria for analysis for influenza A virus for both weeks or for either week, and 3 (<1%) sites from 1 state were at a high level (>80th percentile compared to levels recorded at that site between October 1, 2023 and March 2, 2024).
...
Data Table
...
Id:454 7 Illinois Lake Above Average 61.63 Two-Week Maximum 60,000 2022-10-05
Id:549 8 Kansas Johnson Above Average 70.27 Two-Week Maximum 150,000 2023-09-17
Id:439 7 Illinois Du Page Above Average 60.98 Two-Week Maximum 160,000 2022-10-10
Id:1734 8 Oregon Lane Above Average 76.19 Two-Week Maximum 240,000 2021-09-27
Id:149 7 California San Francisco Above Average 68.42 Two-Week Maximum <10,000 2022-12-29
Id:488 8 Illinois Sangamon Above Average 73.75 Two-Week Maximum 100,000 2023-02-14
Id:548 7 Kansas Johnson Above Average 65.79 Two-Week Maximum 110,000 2023-09-17
Id:362-B 8 Hawaii Honolulu Above Average 70.59 Two-Week Maximum 20,000 2023-06-26
Id:452 9 Illinois Knox High 83.78 Two-Week Maximum 40,000 2022-10-06
Id:462 10 Illinois Mchenry High 93.18 Two-Week Maximum <10,000 2022-10-05
Id:487 10 Illinois Saint Clair High 97.44 Two-Week Maximum 90,000 2022-10-06
...

https://www.cdc.gov/nwss/wastewater-surveillance/Flu-A-data.html

[Pathfinder]

CDC Flu

@CDCFlu


Wondering how #H5N1 bird flu is spreading in dairy cows? This graphic illustrates what is currently known about how spread is happening.  
...


11:50 AM · Jun 20, 2024

[Treyfish]

H5N1 CAUSING MINOR DEATH LOSS IN DAIRY CATTLE

By Mark Dorenkamp
June 21, 2024
Iowa Ag Secretary says some dairies are experiencing minor death loss after herds have tested positive for H5N1.

Mike Naig says among the eight cases in northwest Iowa, some livestock have died.

“We are hearing about some death loss on dairy farms, but really it’s minor in numbers. And oftentimes associated with sort of a secondary issue that might lead to the mortality. So all things that we’re learning….

https://www.brownfieldagnews.com/news/h5n1-causing-minor-death-loss-in-dairy-cattle/

[Pathfinder]

...
CDC Update

June 21, 2024 –
...
Among other activities previously reported in past spotlights and still ongoing, recent highlights of CDC's response to this include:
...

• Looking at the receptor binding profiles of recent avian influenza A(H5N1) viruses to see how well-adapted they are to causing infections in people (compared to birds). Humans and birds have different types and distributions of receptors to which influenza viruses can bind and cause infection. The hemagglutinin protein is responsible for the virus binding (or attaching) to host cells, which has to happen in order for infection to occur. For the receptor binding analysis of A/Texas/37/2024, the hemagglutinin (HA) surface protein of the virus was expressed in the lab and tested for its ability to bind to both human- and avian-type receptors. Preliminary results from these studies show that the A/Texas/37/2024 hemagglutinin only binds to avian-type receptors, and not to human-type receptors. This means the virus's HA has not adapted to be able to easily infect people.

How well the A(H5N1) virus HA binds to avian-type, but not to human-type receptors is shown in the graph. Results from these studies indicate that this virus maintains a preference for avian-type receptors and is not adapting to be able to infect people.
...

https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/...e-june-21-2024

[Pathfinder]

https://data.wastewaterscan.org/trac...ChartId=ff61b6

[Commonground]

From Post #267 above,

West County may refer to

• Contra Costa County, California#West County, the area near or on San Francisco and San Pablo bays

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_County

Palo Alto lies in the southeastern section of the San Francisco Peninsula.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palo_Alto,_California#Geography

[Commonground]

Colorado reports 2 More Herds.

https://ag.colorado.gov/animals/reportable-diseases/avian-influenza/hpai-in-dairy-cattle

[Treyfish]

A head-in-the-sand approach’: The U.S. strategic drug stockpile is inadequate for a bird flu outbreak

BYCAROLYN BARBER
June 24, 2024 at 1:25 PM EDT

……

What’s even more worrisome in the U.S., though, is what happens next. Assuming the H5N1 outbreak eventually reaches far more people than the three who’ve been confirmed so far in connection with dairy cows, how prepared are government agencies to react to widespread infection or a pandemic?

Increasingly, experts fear, the answer to that question is a grim one. “Our antiviral supply for influenza is inadequate,” says Rick Bright, immunologist and former director of the Biomedical Advanced R&D Authority. “We need to diversify it—and even that is not enough, with what we have approved (to treat flu). We need to be developing additional treatment options.”

An inadequate national stockpile

The issues are multifold. The antiviral that the U.S. has in the greatest supply, Tamiflu, has been questioned not only for its path to government approval (virtually all of its clinical trials were drug-company sponsored), but also for its ability to reduce the risk of hospitalization or serious complications of flu. Yet sources told……

In response to information obtained by the author of this article and viewed by Fortune that has not previously been made public by the CDC,
a spokesperson confirmed that oseltamivir (generic for Tamiflu) showed a 16-fold reduction in its ability to inhibit the H5N1 virus collected from an infected dairy worker in Texas, when compared to the activity against a seasonal virus.
That reduction is considered minor, the spokesperson said, and the CDC continues to recommend “prompt antiviral treatment with oseltamivir for patients with confirmed or suspected H5N1 virus infection.”
….
That finding, though, confounded experts. “While (the reduction doesn’t mean the Texas virus will be fully resistant to Tamiflu, it is a clear indication that the virus has reduced susceptibility,” says Bright. “Most likely it would take a higher treatment dose or a longer duration of treatment with Tamiflu to be able to treat someone with this H5N1 virus, but more testing is needed…At this point, we cannot rest comfortably that what we have in the stockpile will be sufficient or even adequately effective against H5N1 viruses in people.” (A CDC study did find that the virus was sensitive to some of the other anti-viral drugs tested, including Baloxavir.)……

No ‘miracle drugs’

Even if Tamiflu worked well, the approximately 55 million treatment courses the U.S. has on hand would be inadequate to treat large-scale human H5N1 infection, especially if it was used preventativelyfor close contacts, as the CDC currently recommends. “I don’t think there is good data right now that supports its use prophylactically,” says Francesca Torriani, medical director of infection prevention and clinical epidemiology at UC San Diego Health. “In my experience as an infectious disease physician, that is a recipe to basically develop resistance.”


…..lots more

https://fortune.com/2024/06/24/us-strategic-drug-stockpile-inadequate-bird-flu-outbreak/?abc123