Discussion thread: H5N1 avian flu in US Dairy Cows - March 24+ - Two human cases (Texas & Michigan)

[Treyfish]

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Sun, Apr 28, 2024 page9

The bird flu outbreak in the US is alarming and its government is stumbling

The H5N1 crisis at dairy farms shows that public health agencies have failed to absorb lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic

• By Lisa Jarvis / Bloomberg
• • 
  • 
  • 

The bird flu outbreak at US dairy farms keeps finding alarming new ways to surprise scientists.

Last week, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed that H5N1 is spreading not just from birds to herds, but among cows.

Meanwhile, media reports say that an unknown number of cows are asymptomatic. Although the risk to humans is still low, it is clear that far more work needs to be done to get a handle on the reach of the virus and how it is being transmitted.

That would require the USDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to get out of their own way.

There is a palpable frustration among infectious disease experts that the agencies are being too protective of critical information and too timid in surveilling the virus. For example, so far, testing has been limited and until Sunday last week, only a handful of viral sequences had been publicly shared.
…..

The USDA’s approach to sharing information illustrates part of the problem.

Last week, the agency came out with its first public admission of cow-to-cow and cow-to-poultry transmission. Those key nuggets were not shared in a press release, but rather were buried in the “FAQ” document.

In other words, the USDA is not exactly keeping secrets, but it also is not exactly highlighting important developments. That approach counters everything we learned during COVID-19.

There could be serious consequences to the agencies’ lack of transparency and data hoarding.

Without clear information from public health experts, people start to fill in the blanks themselves. In an age of rampant misinformation and disinformation on social media, conspiracy theorists are happy to take advantage of any perceived knowledge gaps.

To turn things around, the USDA….

https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2024/04/28/2003817047

[Treyfish]

we are in trouble it would seem…


…However, the problem is that even when there is nothing “sinister or unprofessional” at work, “when you don’t share the data, it leads people to believe there’s something else going on,” he said.

Getting such details out quickly is not just about understanding the outbreak in the US. The international community is watching and worrying about their own farms.

That evokes another lesson from COVID-19: When one country refuses to share information early on in an outbreak, the whole world is put at greater risk….

from the above report..
I guess I’ll have a BLT with some fries..

[sharon sanders]

Please see:

CDC - Avian Influenza A(H5N1) U.S. Situation Update and CDC Activities - Last reviewed April 26, 2024

[Pathfinder]

France is lowering the level of epizootic risk of highly pathogenic avian influenza to “Negligible”

https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/europe/h5n1-tracking/france/982475-avian-influenza-the-situation-in-france-%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B-april-26-2024

UK assesses the risk of entry of H5N1 virus capable of infecting domestic livestock as very low.

https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/europe/h5n1-tracking/united-kingdom-and-northern-ireland/989704-uk-preliminary-outbreak-assessment-for-influenza-a-h5n1-of-avian-origin-in-domestic-livestock-in-the-usa-defra-april-29-2024

[Vibrant62]

So - looking at the evolutionary tree, it appears that the US cattle problem was caused by a unique single point entry into the bovine population and spreading between wild birds and cows, and spreading cow-to-cow. This would appear to be a discreet event in the US, maybe inadvertent through cattle grazing on land contaminated with bird faeces, or maybe through feeding of chicken litter in bone meal fed to cattle (a practice that is prohibited in the EU / UK but not the US, at least at present).

Given that - as evidenced by past global spread - virus has been disseminated by wild birds across the globe, how on earth can the UK and France determine the risk to cattle here as negligible? Maybe in the very short term due to migratory patterns this is correct, but if this viral variant persists in wild birds, surely this will be a matter of time before it reaches Europe and beyond?

A couple of relevant articles / papers here:-

1. https://www.ed.ac.uk/edinburgh-infec...u-spread-globa

2. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-13447-z

Not to mention questions over export of beef cattle products from the US (or at the very least the South Americas, e.g. Argentina and Venezuela - I would say there is a high level of risk that the virus will spread to herds in these countries, and come reverse migration at the end of summer, it is more likely to spread northwards to Canada and Alaska). I have read their assessment but I am not sure I entirely agree with it, and it is far from clear whether meat could be contaminated at present, which could present whole new layers of risks that need to be considered.

I would feel much happier if they had committed to at least some level of sentinel testing of herds in the UK and/or other countries in Europe (and any imports from the Americas), but I cannot see any such commitment anywhere in these reports. It would also be reassuring if they confirmed they have or are developing a firm plan for what must / should happen in the event of an outbreak in cattle i.e this problem spreads beyond the US, where the highest risk will arise from reverse migration this autumn.

[Pathfinder]

Dairy goat operations should be on high alert for H5N1

Roy Graber
April 29, 2024
...
Marsh and the Indiana State Board of Animal Health (BOAH) on April 26 held a conference call with representatives from all agrifood sectors to offer updates on the current H5N1 situation...

One participant in the call inquired if dairy goat operations should be concerned about H5N1, to which Marsh said they should.

Marsh referred to an earlier statement made by another caller, George Fox, from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). Fox said preliminary studies have shown that HPAI has “a strong ability to multiply within the mammary tissue, but not within other tissues.” Marsh indicated that it could apply to the mammary tissues other species of mammals.

“Based on what we’re learning, this virus seems to have a predilection for the mammary tissue and so that’s why we’ve had conversations with the swine industry, certainly the dairy industry, the beef industry and therefore the sheep and goat industries,” said Marsh.

“If any of these commodities are seeing … things that are unusual in those populations, please get with your veterinarian to get some diagnostics done. There’s potential for that in dairy goat operations as well, and we need to be aware of that.”
...

https://www.feedstrategy.com/animal-health-veterinary/livestock-poultry-diseases/article/15669629/dairy-goat-operations-should-be-on-high-alert-for-h5n1

[Pathfinder]

There’s never a good time to drink raw milk. But now’s a really bad time as bird flu infects cows

Helen Branswell
By Helen Branswell April 29, 2024
...
“If I were in charge, for the moment I would forbid the selling of raw milk,” said Thijs Kuiken, a pathologist in the department of viroscience at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, who has done research on H5N1 and the damage it inflicts for about two decades.
...
“I absolutely wouldn’t go anywhere near raw milk in terms of consuming it,” said Richard Webby,

snip
...
Kuiken said his concern about the risk that infected raw milk poses is not so much that the practice might somehow help the virus to mutate in ways that would allow it to spread easily to and among people — in other words, trigger a pandemic. But he believes it would likely seriously sicken people who drink raw milk from an H5N1-infected cow. Reports of the amount of virus present in infected udders is higher than anything he’s seen in studies where he’s experimentally infected animals with H5N1 to chart the illness the virus wreaked, Kuiken said.

Jürgen Richt, a veterinarianand director of the Center of Excellence for Emerging and Zoonotic Animal Diseases at Kansas State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, spoke with a note of disbelief in his voice about the amount of dead viruses or viral particles being found in commercial milk that tested positive for the virus.

“From [results] I have seen, I wouldn’t want to drink raw milk,” Richt said. “And I wouldn’t feed it to my cats, nor my dogs, nor my calves, if I’m on a farm.”
...

snip

Anything with a cycle threshold of 29 or lower is considered a strongly positive result. Some milk testing has shown a Ct value of below 10, Kuiken said.

Webby, who is also the director of the World Health Organization’s Collaborating Center for Studies on the Ecology of Influenza in Animals (located at St. Jude), said drinking raw milk that is infected with H5N1 could deliver a whopping dose of virus to a person’s system — enough to trigger a fatal infection in lab studies where small animals are experimentally infected with H5N1.

snip

“And there’s the other option that it really makes it through the stomach … and then you start an infection from the mid gut.”

Krammer said he thought that last option was unlikely; he thinks stomach acids would inactivate the virus. But Kuiken doesn’t believe that’s necessarily true, referring to his study of H5N1 in cats. Milk acts as a buffer, he said. “It’s the perfect fluid for [virus] reaching the intestine in an infectious state.”
...
The experts STAT spoke to for this story said it would also be prudent for public health authorities looking for possible human cases of H5N1 to cast their net broadly, given that ingestion of the virus might trigger symptoms not typically associated with influenza.
...
“I think that’s why it’s also important to look out for all kinds of weird syndromes that might come up in the areas where there is more exposure and people have more exposure to dairy cattle,” Krammer said. “It could be neurological. It could be basically conjunctivitis. It could be more traditional respiratory infections. But also, something new could come up.”
...

https://www.statnews.com/2024/04/29/bird-flu-raw-milk-h5n1-risk-us-cattle/

[Treyfish]

Mmmm raw milk with my sandwich , it’s readily available

https://www.realmilk.com/raw-milk-finder/

[Treyfish]

Yes, I know this rag paper is alarmist… but couldn’t resist!!


Large bird flu outbreak feared among Texas farmers - group shows symptoms of disease as experts warn cases are far more widespread than previously thought

• USDA revealed it had collected samples of ground beef from grocery stores
• Comes after testing on milk found the virus in one in five that were swabbed
• READ MORE: How gym influencers are risking bird flu by drinking raw milk

By LUKE ANDREWS SENIOR HEALTH REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 16:49 EDT, 29 April 2024 | UPDATED: 17:16 EDT, 29 April 2024


Experts have warned that human transmission of bird flu may be far more widespread than thought, as farmers in Texas and Wisconsin are reported to have symptoms of the virus but are avoiding testing.

Dr Barb Petersen, a dairy veterinarian in Amarillo, Texas, explained that workers at a local farm where cattle have tested positive for the virus are suffering tell-tale symptoms.

She said: 'People had some classic flu-like symptoms, including high fever, sweating at night, chills, lower back pain,' as well as upset stomach, vomiting and diarrhea.


Meanwhile, veterinary researchers in Wisconsin — where the virus has infected cows — have reported multiple cases of local farmers suffering bird flu-like symptoms.

But farmers are notoriously reluctant to seek medical help, meaning 'a lot of cases are not documented', according to Dr Keith Poulsen, director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.

To date only one person has tested positive for the virus — a farmer in Texas who suffered from eye inflammation.

But the CDC says at least 44 others are under monitoring for potential infections with the bird flu virus H5N1.
…. lots more and the regular charts…maybe they drank raw milk with their sandwich!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-13363325/bird-flu-outbreak-humans-texas-farm-worker-sick.html

[Treyfish]

Both Peterson and Paulson are quoted in post #97

[Treyfish]

What we’re starting to learn about H5N1 in cows, and the risk to people

By Helen Branswell and Megan Molteni April 30, 2024


The H5N1 bird flu virus has been around for decades, and the damage it wreaks on chickens and other poultry is well documented. But the recent discovery that the virus has jumped into dairy cattle — whose udders seem to be where the virus either infects or migrates to — has dumbfounded scientists and agricultural authorities.

Questions for which there are pretty clear answers when it comes to birds are suddenly unsettled science in cows. How are they getting infected? Are they transmitting the virus cow to cow, or are human actions — activities that are part of the day-to-day of farming — serving as an unrecognized amplifier of viral transmission? In the interface between infected cows and humans, how might people be at risk? Does consuming milk laced with live H5 virus pose a hazard?

At this point in the H5N1-in-cows story, these are questions that don’t have solid answers, though some evidence is coming into focus. Getting answers is critical, for controlling spread among cows, if that’s still possible; stopping transmission from cows to key species like poultry or pigs; and keeping the virus from getting a foothold in the human population.

Let’s explore the little we know, and the much more we don’t know.

Are cows spreading the virus the way people transmit flu?
....

Scientists are now trying to figure out if cows are passing around the H5N1 bird flu in the same way. So far, it seems possible, but unlikely to be the main driver of disease transmission.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has said few tests from the respiratory tracts of infected cows have come back positive — and those that did showed there wasn’t a lot of virus present. But there is at least some evidence that H5N1 is on occasion getting deep into the respiratory tracts of cows. The USDA said in a frequently asked questions document it released last week that its National Veterinary Services Laboratories had found H5N1 in a lung tissue sample from an asymptomatic dairy cow that originated from an affected herd.

So what is the main driver of infection among cows?

While the contribution of respiratory transmission is still in question, there appears to be little doubt that a lot of spread is happening in milking parlors, where cows are strapped into the milking machines, and that in dairy cows, H5N1 seems to be primarily infecting mammary glands. The amount of virus in the udders of infected cows is off-the-charts high, making it easy to see how one cow’s infection soon becomes a herd’s problem.

“You can imagine that if such a cow is milked in a milking stall, even a few drops of milk remaining on the teat cup which is used to milk will then subsequently contaminate the teat of the next cow,” said Thijs Kuiken, a pathologist in the department of viroscience at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. “So you can imagine very easily how, in the course of a few days, the virus could spread very fast among the cows being milked on that farm.”

That fits with other evidence: the fact that infections...

lots more of a very interesting article!!

https://www.statnews.com/2024/04/30/h5n1-bird-flu-virus-cows-and-risk-to-people/

[Treyfish]

Scientists warn Canada 'way behind the virus' as bird flu explodes among U.S. dairy cattle

Calls for active surveillance on both sides of the border after H5N1 spreads across 9 states
Lauren Pelley · CBC News · Posted: Apr 30, 2024 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

While federal officials say there's still no sign of a dangerous form of bird flu in Canadian dairy cows, scientists warn limited surveillance means Canada might not be staying ahead of an explosive H5N1 outbreak among dairy cattle south of the border.

So far, dozens of herds across various U.S. states have been infected with this form of influenza A. While it appears to cause milder infections in cows, H5N1 has also been linked to stunning death rates of 50 per cent or more in other species, including various birds, cats and even humans, though more data and research is needed to fully understand the risks.

"I think we're way behind the virus," warned Matthew Miller, an immunologist and vaccine developer with McMaster University, who's among the Canadians working on H5N1 research.

Without a "robust national surveillance program, there's no way to know if there are infections here or not."

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) told CBC News on Monday it has not detected this form of bird flu yet in dairy cattle — or any other livestock — in Canada. (In birds, however, the disease is already widespread across the country, impacting an estimated 11 million farmed birds to date.)
....

Multiple Canadian scientists, however, stress that widespread testing and surveillance efforts should already be underway rather than set to ramp up after a first detection.
.... Canada needs 'active surveillance'
....
Canada should "absolutely be doing active surveillance for H5N1 in cattle," other animals and humans who are in close contact with them, said Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious diseases expert with the University Health Network in Toronto, in correspondence with CBC News.

He said those efforts could include a range of approaches such as wastewater surveillance, blood sample studies and nasal swabs.

The goal should be going "all-in on prevention," Miller said, adding "pandemics always have the highest risk of happening when we have a virus in animals that humans are heavily exposed to."
...."If we see more human infections, cat's out of the bag, it's way too late," Miller said. "We need to be sparing no amount of effort, and no amount of expense, in doing absolutely everything to prevent even those initial infections in humans — because the stakes are just too high."

The U.S. has reported one human infection linked to the cattle outbreaks so far, in an individual whose only symptom was eye inflammation. However, some scientists have warned there are likely more that aren't being detected, amid growing calls for mass testing on farms.

...."Since the issue in the [U.S.] seems to be bigger than we thought and was brewing before it was recognized, and since we have a plausible route for exposure here, we should be proactive," said Dr. Scott Weese, a pr....


https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/bird-...nada-1.7188779

[Treyfish]

WHO: Risk of bird flu spreading to cows outside US

Tuesday, 30 Apr 2024 6:15 PM MYT

GENEVA, April 30 — A World Health Organisation official said today there was a risk of H5N1 bird flu virus spreading to cows in other countries beyond the United States through migratory birds.

“With the virus carried around the world by migratory birds, certainly there is a risk for cows in other countries to be getting infected,” said .....

https://www.malaymail.com/news/world...side-us/131723

[Treyfish]

HPAI subject of May 1 ISU virtual chat


Dairy and veterinary experts will give an update on how this disease affects dairy cows.

April 30, 2024
DAIRY DILEMMA: The impact of highly pathogenic avian influenza on dairy cows is the subject of a virtual chat Iowa State University dairy specialists are having on May 1.GIL GULLICKSON

The Iowa State University Extension and Outreach dairy team will host a second virtual chat to discuss the latest information on how highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is affecting dairy cows.

A team of experts from the ISU College of Veterinary Medicine will join the state veterinarian and ISU Extension and Outreach for a live discussion at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 1.

Information about the illness continues to increase daily, so this program will discuss the latest on the HPAI infection affecting dairy ruminant herds and poultry flocks.
....

Producers, dairy consultants and industry reps are encouraged to attend the free virtual chat at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 1. No registration is required. To join, visit go.iastate.edu/BOVINEA.

The password is 904903.

For information, contact.....

https://www.farmprogress.com/animal-health/hpai-subject-of-may-1-isu-virtual-chat

[Treyfish]

Import of poultry meat and products from Newaygo County of State of Michigan in US suspended
************************************************** ****************************
The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (April 30) that in view of a notification from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) about an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in Newaygo County of the State of Michigan in the United States (US), the CFS has instructed the trade to suspend the import of poultry meat and products (including poultry eggs) from the area with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong.

A CFS spokesman said that according to the Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong imported about 16 480 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat and about 7.73 million poultry eggs from the US in the first three months of this year.

"The CFS has contacted the American authority over the issue and will closely monitor information issued by the WOAH and the relevant authorities on the avian influenza outbreak. Appropriate action will be taken in response to the development of the situation," the spokesman said.

Ends/Tuesday, April 30, 2024
Issued at HKT 15:30

https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202404/30/P2024043000416.htm

[Pathfinder]

medRxiv preprint ... this version posted April 29, 2024

Detection of hemagglutinin H5 influenza A virus sequence in municipal
wastewater solids at wastewater treatment plants with increases in influenza A in
spring, 2024
...

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.04.26.24306409v1.full.pdf

--------------------------------------

WastewaterSCAN Dashboard

Influenza A, Texas

Chart display:
River Road, Amarillo, TX (River Road WWTP)

https://data.wastewaterscan.org/trac...ChartId=64a87f



03/19/2024 - 04/30/2024 (42 days)

[sharon sanders]

So in a immunity sense - is it a bad thing if humans become challenged by a no-symptom form of H5N1? Can't this act as a primer for another H5N1 strain via cross-immunity? Maybe a primer for a much higher pathogenic strain that may develop later? Probably depends on viral load in the primer dose...just thinking out loud...I am not a virologist or immunologist....also possible that a low symptom situation will not stimulate the immune system to make enough antibodies against other strains.....probably a range of possibilities.....

[jasonfoster]

Also, just thinking out loud.. If the pasteurised milk has fragments of virus in it, but it is not viable, would this safe exposure cause a serological response in anyone that drinks it? Looking at the last person to catch the virus in the US, their response to it was not that bad at all. One would think that, if the farmer was drinking the milk, it may have given him pre exposure and one would also think that if the cows had pre exposure from the birds / chickens on the farm, they wouldn't have a bad response to it either.

Just thinking here, I am not a virologist either. If this was to be correct, though, the authorities might let everyone just drink the milk and the US population would survive a pandemic better than any other... In the UK, at least, they are not testing at all. Of course, I could be way off and often I am..

It would be interesting to do serological testing on the general public.