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

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  • Wouldn’t want anything factual to get out
    CSI:WORLD http://swineflumagazine.blogspot.com/

    treyfish2004@yahoo.com

    Comment


    • Traces of bird flu have made it into store-bought milk in New England, but at very low levels.

      Story by Adam Piore • 22h • 6 min read
      ...
      The inactivated remnants of H5N1 virus, also known as bird flu, were identified in one of 40 samples of milk purchased from 20 local grocery stores and analyzed by the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard on behalf of The Boston Globe.
      ...
      To find out if H5N1 was present in local supermarkets, Globe staffers fanned out across Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire earlier this week, heading for the dairy sections of Star Market, Stop & Shop, Cumberland Farms, Whole Foods, Traders Joe’s, Shaws, Target, and a wide array of other stores.

      They delivered the milk in coolers to Sabeti’s lab in Cambridge’s Kendall Square. After using specialized machines to extract any genetic material present and reproduce it 1 billion times, members of her lab then added fluorescent chemical particles that rendered any fragments of the H5N1 virus visible to a specialized camera, explained Elyse Stachler, a research scientist who led the genetic testing. Each sample underwent testing twice before technicians rendered their verdict. Some underwent a third test that was even more stringent.
      ...

      Comment


      • All kinds of disturbing news…


        HPAI dairy herd infection case report



        Phil Durst, Michigan State University Extension - May 17, 2024

        What happens in a dairy herd with HPAI? What should I expect if my herd became infected? This case report describes what one farmer has faced in the 15 days since herd infection began. May 1, 2024 marked day one of the onset of an outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) on one dairy farm in Michigan. The farmer, recognizing the potential benefit to other farmers, willingly shared this information and agreed to have official testing of his herd. This report is what was known and reported on day 15 of the HPAI infection in a herd of approximately 500 lactating cows. Prior to infection, the average cow production on this farm ranged from 95 to 100 lbs. per day.

        Initial symptoms were detected with the SmaXtec monitoring boluses that they currently have in about 90% of lactating cows. The onset was manifested by a spike in body temperature of 4 to 5 degrees above normal, followed by a decrease in rumination 6 hours later. Rumination decreases were typically 8% or more in affected cows.

        The temperature elevation lasted about two days, resulting in severe dehydration. The farm took an aggressive approach to supportive therapy, administering aspirin boluses twice a day to reduce temperature and inflammation and providing IV hypertonic fluids and Vitamin B in some cases. They tried IV Banamine on a limited number of cows but did not see any positive impact. Their goal is to make the cows as comfortable as possible.

        It began in a barn with two pens of cattle that had three water fountains, the center one being shared. They wanted to try to confine the disease to a single group or at least a single barn. They changed their wash cycle in milking so that it washed after this group of cows. Regardless of their efforts, HPAI spread to all groups of lactating cattle on the farm.

        For the first nine days, milk production per cow only decreased by about 5 lbs. and were optimistic they had beaten back the disease. However, by day 12 each cow was producing 21 lbs. less than average, accompanied by a doubling of somatic cell count to 180,000 c/ml. Cows were dehydrated with sunken eyes. Day 15 was the first day that the monitoring report showed fewer cows affected than the day before. Based on the number of cows with elevated temperatures and subtracting out the normal rate, they believe 40% of the lactating herd was infected.

        The number of cows the farm employees needed to handle in some way had increased sixfold, making the work very labor intensive. They stopped breeding heifer and dry cows because of the demands working with sick cattle.

        While pregnancy checks have not at this point shown a reduction in conception, a few late-lactating cows aborted their calves, likely due to high body temperatures. The disease primarily affected high-producing, multi-lactation cows and the low group. Transition cows seem to be performing normally at this point. Waste milk is pasteurized before feeding it to calves, and to date, the calves seem to be doing fine.

        Employees have stayed healthy so far. The farmer encouraged them to wash their hands frequently and avoid touching their face and eyes. All employees were offered safety eyewear or face shields.

        Clearly, by day 15, the full impact of the disease has not yet been felt. However, the farmer did some cost estimations. He has spent $5,000 – $7,500 in extra medical supplies. Even though the costs of these common medications are low, the volume needed has been quite high. There has been the loss of milk, loss of quality premium, increased labor and loss of a few pregnancies resulting in culling animals. He estimates the cost for this herd of approximately 500 cows at $30,000 – $40,000.

        The owner of the farm in this case report understands that this does not include the potential longer-term costs. Another farmer said that some herds are seeing symptoms for four to six weeks. Additional negative impacts include increased culls of animals that do not recover significantly and increased weight gain of late lactation cows that recover feed intake but not milk output.

        “It has been a lot of work, stressful on the cows and frankly overwhelming,” the farmer said.


        As required by law, this farmer reported the disease to the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD). He believes it is important for the industry to understand the disease. He knows that his is not the only farm to get HPAI and hopes that the more we can learn from his experience, the better we can prevent more herd infections, reduce the impact and potentially be better prepared against other diseases.

        Michigan State University Extension is a leader in working with this and other farms regarding HPAI for the benefit of the dairy industry and provides resources at our animal agriculture and avian influenza websites.

        This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit https://extension.msu.edu. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit https://extension.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area, visit https://extension.msu.edu/experts, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).

        What happens in a dairy herd with HPAI? What should I expect if my herd became infected? This case report describes what one farmer has faced since herd infection began.
        CSI:WORLD http://swineflumagazine.blogspot.com/

        treyfish2004@yahoo.com

        Comment


        • Here is a very good round table expert discussion podcast from the BU Center on Emerging Infectious Diseases, that is well worth listening to.



          As an additional point, something that was not adequately covered IMHO in this discussion is that - I believe - it is likely that the virus currently circulating in cattle is still very early in its adaptation cycle, especially given that it *appears* to be quite anomalous in terms of the way it is manifesting and transmitting (udders and milk) for a respiratory virus. I hope that the evolving genetics are being thoroughly tracked; a rapid rate of genetic change would tend to indicate that this hypothesis may be correct.

          I suspect we may see emergence over time of a better adapted virus with increasing pathogenicity and mortality in cattle.

          Comment


          • Influenza A Virus Wastewater Data

            Updated May 17, 2024

            Main Findings from Wastewater Surveillance

            During the two most recent weeks, (April 28-May 11), a total of 245 of 696 sites reported data meeting criteria for analysis for influenza A virus for both weeks or for either week, and 4 (2%) sites from three states were at a high level (>80th percentile compared to levels recorded at that site between October 1, 2023 and March 2, 2024).

            ...
            Current wastewater monitoring methods detect influenza A viruses but do not determine the subtype. This means that avian influenza A(H5N1) viruses can be detected but would not be distinguished from other influenza A virus subtypes.

            Wastewater testing cannot determine the source of the influenza A virus. It could come from a human or from an animal (like a bird) or an animal product (like milk from an infected cow).

            Public health officials at CDC and state and local health departments are monitoring these data. For areas where influenza A virus levels in wastewater are high, CDC works with relevant partners to better understand the factors that could be contributing to these levels.
            ...
            Data Table
            (Excerpt)

            April 28, 2024 – May 4, 2024
            ...
            Id:448 7 Illinois Kane Above Average 60.0 2024-05-04 11,290 2022-10-10
            Id:320 7 Florida Pinellas Above Average 61.11 2024-05-04 47,790 2023-08-07
            Id:13 8 Alaska Anchorage Above Average 70.37 2024-05-04 220,000 2023-05-24
            Id:134 8 California Orange Above Average 70.45 2024-05-04 120,000 2022-12-21
            Id:457 7 Illinois La Salle Above Average 63.33 2024-05-04 18,768 2022-10-09
            Id:552 10 Kansas Saline High 97.78 2024-05-04 47,000 2022-08-08
            Id:185 9 California Sonoma High 83.33 2024-05-04 65,000 2022-06-28
            Id:152 9 California San Francisco, San Mateo High 83.33 2024-05-04 66,446 2022-12-29
            Id:1857 9 Texas Dallas High 81.58 2024-05-04 186,000

            ...
            --------------------------------------------------

            May 5, 2024 – May 11, 2024
            ...

            Id:319 7 Florida Pinellas Above Average 67.57 2024-05-11 94,218 2023-08-07
            Id:1912 7 Texas Randall, Potter Above Average 63.64 2024-05-11 60,000 2022-12-07
            Id:1910 8 Texas Montgomery Above Average 77.27 2024-05-11 15,000 2023-02-20
            Id:185 8 California Sonoma Above Average 72.22 2024-05-11 65,000 2022-06-28
            Id:1921-B 7 Texas Webb Above Average 68.29 2024-05-11 140,000 2022-12-12
            Id:122 7 California Marin Above Average 63.04 2024-05-11 18,000 2022-08-08
            Id:1378 7 New York Oswego Above Average 63.41 2024-05-11 30,000 2023-07-31
            Id:152 7 California San Francisco, San Mateo Above Average 66.67 2024-05-11 66,446 2022-12-29
            Id:136 7 California Placer Above Average 68.09 2024-05-11 108,444 2023-09-19
            Id:174 7 California Santa Clara Above Average 69.14 2024-05-11 110,338 2023-02-21
            Id:552 10 Kansas Saline High 93.33 2024-05-11 47,000

            ...​

            Comment


            • Updates on Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI)

              Content current as of:
              05/22/2024​...

              What's New

              May 20, 2024

              In our May 10 update, we announced that all 297 samples from the FDA’s initial survey of retail dairy products were found to be negative for viable Highly Pathogenic H5N1 Avian Influenza (H5N1 HPAI) virus. Today, for continued transparency, the FDA is providing additional information on our retail sample survey (see Testing Results).
              ...

              ​Retail samples were collected between April 18-22 and represent a snapshot in time. This testing did not detect any live, infectious virus.

              State Where Milk Was Processed (May Not Relate to Where Milk Was Produced)
              Detection of Live Virus in Retail Product(s)
              Number of Retail Product Samples Tested
              Retail Product Samples Negative for Viral RNA (qRT-PCR Screening -)
              Retail Product Samples Positive for Viral RNA (qRT-PCR Screening +)
              Retail Product Sample Results for Live Virus (Viability Testing by Egg Inoculation)
              AR No 5 0 5 0
              AZ No 5 4 1 0
              CA No 21 21 0 Not Performed (Negative qRT-PCR)
              CO No 8 5 3 0
              CT No 2 2 0 Not Performed (Negative qRT-PCR)
              FL No 10 9 1 0
              GA No 8 8 0 Not Performed (Negative qRT-PCR)
              IA No 11 11 0 Not Performed (Negative qRT-PCR)
              ID No 4 4 0 Not performed (Negative qRT-PCR)
              IL No 5 5 0 Not Performed (Negative qRT-PCR)
              IN No 9 8 1 0
              KS No 7 1 6 0
              KY No 4 1 3 0
              MA No 4 4 0 Not Performed (Negative qRT-PCR)
              ME No 2 2 0 Not Performed (Negative qRT-PCR)
              MI No 13 9 4 0
              MN No 16 13 3 0
              MO No 10 7 3 0
              NC No 5 4 1 0
              ND No 2 2 0 Not Performed (Negative qRT-PCR)
              NE No 3 3 0 Not Performed (Negative qRT-PCR)
              NH No 1 1 0 Not Performed (Negative qRT-PCR)
              NJ No 3 3 0 Not Performed (Negative qRT-PCR)
              NV No 4 4 0 Not Performed (Negative qRT-PCR)
              NY No 38 38 0 Not Performed (Negative qRT-PCR)
              OH No 8 5 3 0
              OK No 12 2 10 0
              OR No 10 10 0 Not Performed (Negative qRT-PCR)
              PA No 2 2 0 Not Performed (Negative qRT-PCR)
              SC No 3 0 3 0
              TN No 3 3 0 Not Performed (Negative qRT-PCR)
              TX No 26 13 13 0
              UT No 5 5 0 Not Performed (Negative qRT-PCR)
              VA No 6 6 0 Not Performed (Negative qRT-PCR)
              VT No 2 2 0 Not Performed (Negative qRT-PCR)
              WA No 8 8 0 Not Performed (Negative qRT-PCR)
              WI No 11 11 0 Not Performed (Negative qRT-PCR)
              WV No 1 1 0 Not Performed (Negative qRT-PCR)

              Table 2: Breakdown of Retail Sample Results by Product Type

              Product
              Category
              Number of Retail Product Samples
              Detection of Live Virus in Retail Product
              Retail Product Samples Negative for Viral RNA (qRT-PCR Screening -)
              Retail Product Samples Positive for Viral RNA (qRT-PCR Screening +)
              Percent of Retail Product Samples Positive for Viral RNA (via qRT-PCR screening)
              Retail Product Sample Results for Live Virus (Confirmatory Virus Culture)
              Skim Milk 36 No 32 4 11.1% 0/4
              1% Milk 28 No 19 9 32.1% 0/9
              2% Milk 58 No 42 16 27.6% 0/16
              Whole Milk 68 No 52 16 23.5% 0/16
              Cottage Cheese 21 No 20 1 4.8% 0/1
              Cream 17 No 14 3 17.6% 0/3
              Half and Half 25 No 19 6 24.0% 0/6
              Sour Cream and Similar 30 No 25 5 16.7% 0/5
              Yogurt 14 No 14 0 0 NA
              Total 297 None 237 60 20.2% 0/60
              ...
              https://www.fda.gov/food/alerts-advisories-safety-information/updates-highly-pathogenic-avian-influenza-hpai#testing​

              Comment


              • hat tip Michael Coston


                First case of influenza A (H5) detected in Michigan resident




                Comment


                • Despite growing concerns over bird flu, many US dairy workers have not received protective equipment

                  A dairy worker in Michigan tested positive for bird flu, US said, marking the second human case since cattle tested positive in March

                  Published May 23, 2024 10:43am EDT​
                  • Despite growing concern about bird flu, many U.S. dairy farms have not increased health protections for employees.
                  • On May 22, 2024, the U.S. government said a second dairy worker has contracted bird flu since cattle first tested positive in late March.
                  • The U.S. Department of Agriculture said it believes unpasteurized milk is the primary vector for transmitting the virus in cows, though officials do not know exactly how it spreads.

                  Many U.S. dairy farms have not yet increased health protections against bird flu for employees during an outbreak in cows, according to workers, activists and farmers, worrying health experts about the risk for more human infections of a virus with pandemic potential.

                  The U.S. government said on Wednesday that a second dairy worker contracted bird flu since cattle first tested positive in late March and that investigators are looking into whether the person was wearing or offered protective equipment.
                  Nearly 24,000 farms sell milk around the country, and they offer varying protections to staff....

                  Three dairy workers, seven activists and two lawyers who assist farm employees told Reuters that dairy owners have not offered equipment like face shields and goggles to staff who spend 10- to 12-hour days side-by-side with cows. Three large dairy companies with tens of thousands of cows declined to comment on their procedures.

                  The workers - all based in New York, a major dairy producer - said they heard of the new illness affecting cattle through the media or community organizers, not their employers. One, 39-year-old Luis Jimenez from Mexico, said last week it was business as usual.

                  New York state said it is assessing CDC's recommendation and has not yet distributed equipment. Texas, New Mexico and Colorado, where cattle were infected, said they distributed equipment to eight dairies combined. Kansas, Idaho and Wisconsin said they have equipment, but no farmers asked for it....

                  ...
                  .Some dairies with infected cows have resisted allowing federal officials on their farms because of financial concerns, said Gregory Gray, a University of Texas Medical Branch professor studying cattle diseases.

                  New Mexico had anecdotal reports of workers with symptoms similar to conjunctivitis, but most were not tested, according to internal state documents that were dated April 26 and obtained by Reuters under a public records request. The workers were not tested because they did not seek healthcare, the New Mexico Department of Health said......

                  https://www.foxnews.com/health/despi...tive-equipment
                  CSI:WORLD http://swineflumagazine.blogspot.com/

                  treyfish2004@yahoo.com

                  Comment


                  • ​The race to uncover bird flu in the Texas Panhandle

                    Dairy farmers and veterinarians in northern Texas furiously investigated a mysterious illness among cattle before the government got involved. Farm cat deaths were the tip off.

                    BY AMY MAXMEN, KFF HEALTH NEWS
                    MAY 23, 2024
                    UPDATED: 9:52 AM CENTRAL
                    ...
                    Why did it take so long to recognize the virus on high-tech farms in the world’s richest country? Because even though H5N1 has circulated for nearly three decades, its arrival in dairy cattle was most unexpected. “People tend to think that an outbreak starts at Monday at 9 a.m. with a sign saying, ‘Outbreak has started,’” said Jeremy Farrar, chief scientist at the World Health Organization. “It’s rarely like that.”
                    ...
                    Having fought epidemics around the world, Farrar cited examples of when strong-arm surveillance pushed outbreaks underground. During an early 2000s bird flu outbreak in Vietnam, farmers circumvented regulations by moving poultry at night, bribing inspection workers, and selling their goods through back channels. “Learning what drivers and fears exist among people is crucial,” Farrar said. “But we always seem to realize that at a later date.”
                    ...
                    Occasional tests of sick farmworkers aren’t sufficient, he said. Ideally, a system is set up to encourage farmworkers, their communities, and health care workers to be tested whenever the virus hits farms nearby.

                    “Health care worker infections are always a sign of human-to-human transmission,” Farrar said. “That’s the approach you want to take — I am not saying it’s easy.”
                    ...

                    Dairy farmers and veterinarians in northern Texas furiously investigated a mysterious illness among cattle before the government got involved. Farm cat deaths were the tip off.

                    Comment


                    • Bird Flu Is More Widespread Among Dairy Cows, Sewage Tests Suggest


                      Riley Griffin and Jessica Nix, Bloomberg News
                      (Bloomberg) -- A Michigan farmworker who tested positive for bird flu is just the second person to have been infected since an outbreak in US cattle appeared in March. Surveillance of sewage suggests the virus may be more widespread among dairy cows than reported, raising workers’ risk.

                      Academic and industry-run labs have been leading the way toward more nuanced and complete information about the H5N1 virus’s range by analyzing wastewater. They found bird flu in sewage samples collected before the virus had been identified in US cows. They’re seeing signs in cities that are far from infected cattle herds. And they’re already giving the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention better information about where to focus its efforts....


                      ​​​​​​In Texas, for example, 19 out of 23 wastewater sites were found to contain traces of the virus between early March and the end of April, according to Texas Wastewater Environmental Biomonitoring. Meanwhile, the state has some 400 dairy farms, and just 14 herds have tested positive for bird flu to date, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

                      Other Biden administration officials, who asked not to be named while describing the federal response, said they’re worried about the time it took the government to first spot the outbreak in cattle, which likely began in late 2023 after contact with sick migratory birds. That months long delay shows the limitations of US pandemic preparedness efforts and a disjointed public-health system, the officials said.

                      Friedrichs said the US should seek the help of additional wastewater experts and operations to develop “a more robust national picture.”....

                      Using the assay to look back through old wastewater samples, White found an H5 virus had been present in Amarillo, Texas, as early as February — weeks before the White House was first alerted of the emerging outbreak. That shows the potential for wastewater surveillance as an early warning signal for bird flu, White said.

                      It appears bird flu has “run its course” in Texas, he said, as overall influenza A levels appear to be declining in the state. Verily announced this week that it had expanded its search for H5 markers to all 190 sites in an effort to better track the outbreak.

                      Recognizing the need for more monitoring, the CDC is also putting an a...

                      The dangers the virus has shown in the past raises the stakes for wastewater monitoring.

                      “The risk is the longer this outbreak continues, the more opportunities there may be for a spillover jump from an animal species to a human,” said Al Ozonoff, an infectious disease scientist at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. The next event experts worry about is, he said is “some viral evolution which creates an opportunity for human-to-human transmission.”


                      https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/bird-flu...gest-1.2076711
                      CSI:WORLD http://swineflumagazine.blogspot.com/

                      treyfish2004@yahoo.com

                      Comment


                      • Canada -
                        ...
                        Milk sampling and testing results

                        CFIA laboratories tested 303 retail milk samples from across Canada. All samples have tested negative for HPAI fragments, with no evidence of disease in dairy cattle detected in milk.

                        Results of the Canada-wide testing of retail milk samples are listed below. Next steps on testing will be decided as part of further discussions with partners.

                        Date testing completed Area Samples tested HPAI detections (positive or negative)

                        May 16, 2024 Atlantic provinces 77 All negative
                        May 16, 2024 Ontario 75 All negative
                        May 16, 2024 Quebec 76 All negative
                        May 16, 2024 Western provinces 75 All negative​
                        ​...

                        Comment


                        • Cows Have Almost Certainly Infected More Than Two People With Bird Flu

                          Protecting dairy workers from further spread will be crucial to containing the outbreak.
                          By Katherine J. Wu
                          MAY 23, 2024, 10:06 AM ET

                          ​​​​​​It was bound to happen again. For the second time in two months, the United States has confirmed a case of bird flu in a dairy worker employed by a farm with H5N1-infected cows. “The only thing I’m surprised about is that it’s taken this long to get another confirmed case,” Steve Valeika, a veterinarian and an epidemiologist based in North Carolina, told me.



                          The true case count is almost certainly higher. For weeks, anecdotal reports of sick farmworkers have been trickling in from around the nation, where H5N1 has been detected in dozens of herds in nine states, according to federal counts. Testing among humans and animals remains limited, and buy-in from farms is still spotty. The gap between reality and what the government can measure is hindering the world from realizing the full scope of the outbreak. And it may hamper experts’ ability to detect human-to-human spread, should that someday occur. “I wouldn’t be surprised if there have been dozens of cases at this point,” Valeika said.

                          The risk to most of the public is still low, as federal guidelines continue to emphasize. But that assurance feels tenuous when “the threat to farmworkers remains high,” Jennifer Nuzzo, the director of the pandemic center at the Brown University School of Public Health, told me. Too often, infectious disease most affects a society’s most vulnerable people; now the future of this virus depends on America’s ability to protect a community whose health and safety are routinely discounted....

                          ....People who work on dairy farms, though, have reason to worry, Lakdawala added. In the so-called parlors where dairy cows are milked, animals are strapped into machines that latch on to their udders, pump until the rate of flow slows, then release, swinging “off the animal at eye height,” Lakdawala told me, and blasting bystanders with frothy liquid. The machines aren’t necessarily sanitized between each animal—and what cleaning does occur often involves a high-pressure hose-down that also mists up milk. The entire process involves a lot of direct maneuvering of udders, as workers load machinery onto each cow and prime their initial milk flow manually. If workers aren’t directly getting milk on their hands—which will, at some point, touch their face—they’re “constantly being bombarded with aerosols, droplets, and spray,” Lakdawala said.​....


                          https://www.theatlantic.com/science/...l&utm_campaign =social​
                          CSI:WORLD http://swineflumagazine.blogspot.com/

                          treyfish2004@yahoo.com

                          Comment


                          • This is very disturbing. Firstly, the child was much more sick than we were led to believe. Secondly, no contact with birds, animals, sick human contacts. Did not eat undercooked poultry. No contact with animals at all. That leaves humans. Or water.

                            From: https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/...054#post991054

                            Published Date: 2024-05-22 21:08:04 EDT
                            Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Avian influenza, human - Australia: ex India, H5N1​

                            The child who became unwell whilst in India was hospitalised upon return to Australia in March 2024. Influenza A was detected by PCR during admission, and the child was treated with oseltamivir during a prolonged stay in intensive care with severe lower respiratory tract infection and hypoxia with respiratory failure. The child has since been discharged home and has made a complete recovery.
                            ...
                            Interview with the child's family has been unable to identify a clear acquisition source, with the child having no interaction with birds, animals or sick human contacts either in India or Australia, and no geographic or epidemiological links to any of the previously isolated homologous cases. There was also no known consumption of undercooked poultry or meat products during the acquisition period.

                            Contact tracing did not identify any contact with animals whilst ill on return to Australia, and there were no ill human contacts identified and no evidence of any onwards transmission to humans or animals.

                            Comment


                            • UW-Madison: UW finds raw milk with H5N1 flu poses infection risk
                              Home » Press Releases » UW-Madison: UW finds raw milk with H5N1 flu poses infection risk

                              MADISON — Consuming raw cow’s milk that contains H5N1 avian influenza virus poses an infection risk, but a laboratory process that simulates high-temperature pasteurization reduces the virus in infected milk by more than 99.99%. That’s according to a team led by University of Wisconsin–Madison scientists, who reported their findings May 24 in a letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

                              The group, which also included researchers from Texas A&M University, found that mice that consumed untreated milk infected with H5N1 subsequently became ill with influenza and that small amounts of virus persist in untreated milk for weeks when kept at standard refrigeration temperatures. The research took place as the H5N1 avian influenza virus continued its spread from birds into mammals, with infections reported in dairy herds across the United States this spring.

                              ......This method inactivated more than 99.99% of the virus within the samples, though it did not completely inactivate the virus.

                              “We must emphasize that the conditions used in our laboratory study are not identical to the large-scale industrial treatment of raw milk,” says Kawaoka. “It’s important to remember that our heat-treatment findings may not perfectly translate to real-world conditions.”

                              Meanwhile, the team orally inoculated mice with untreated milk samples to gauge the possible risk posed by consuming raw milk that contains H5N1 virus. The mice began showing symptoms of illness after one day.

                              While no mice died as a result of infection with....


                              ​​​​​​https://www.wispolitics.com/2024/uw-...nfection-risk/
                              CSI:WORLD http://swineflumagazine.blogspot.com/

                              treyfish2004@yahoo.com

                              Comment


                              • In Experiments, Mice Got Ill From Raw Milk Carrying Bird Flu Virus

                                ​By:
                                Ernie Mundell
                                Published on:
                                May 24, 2024, 11:35 am
                                Updated on:
                                May 24, 2024, 11:35 am​
                                • H5N1 bird flu is currently infecting U.S. dairy cows, and the virus is showing up in milk
                                • New experiments in mice fed unpasteurized "raw" milk tainted with H5N1 show that consumption quickly made the rodents very ill
                                • Refrigerating raw milk did little to lower levels of the virus, while pasteurization brought levels down dramatically
                                FRIDAY, May 24, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Confirming the dangers of drinking raw cow's milk when the H5N1 avian flu virus is circulating in U.S. dairy herds, researchers found that mice fed the milk quickly got ill.

                                "Our data indicate that HPAI A[H5N1] virus in untreated milk can infect susceptible animals that consume it," concluded a team led by virologist Yoshihiro Kawaoka, of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His team published the findings Friday in the New England Journal of Medicine....


                                CSI:WORLD http://swineflumagazine.blogspot.com/

                                treyfish2004@yahoo.com

                                Comment

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