Avian flu H5N1 discussion - news/case lists links - 2022+

[Pathfinder]

Experts fear mass wipe-out of penguins as Antarctica braces for bird flu

Tourists could be ordered to stay on board cruise ships for the first time to prevent cross contamination

By Harriet Barber
IN BUENOS AIRES
25 September 2023 • 1:39pm

...
In an exclusive interview with the Telegraph, the head of polar regions for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office warned that the infection, which has killed millions of birds across the globe over the past year, will have deadly consequences once it reaches the region.

“It could be absolutely devastating,” said Dr Jane Rumble, OBE. “We’re saying when, not if.”

H5N1 is expected to emerge in the coming weeks as birds migrate from South America to breeding sites in the Antarctic.

The death toll could be exceptionally high, scientists say, as the continent is the breeding ground of more than 100 million birds.

Dr Tom Hart, a biologist who has been developing guidance on avian flu, said: “I don’t want to put a number on it but it’s extremely serious. Certain groups like seals, terns and penguins are likely to be impacted severely.
...
To combat the risk, tourists visiting Antarctica this season may not be able to disembark from cruise ships if the worst-case scenario arises.

“They will keep everybody on board or just do Zodiac cruising,” said Dr Rumble. “Tourists might not necessarily have the holiday they expected.”
...


https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-...-penguin-antarctica-virus-pandemic-argentina/

 

[Pathfinder]

Hat tip to Tetano for posting this research:

Emerg Microbes Infect . The Feather Epithelium Contributes to the Dissemination and Ecology of clade 2.3.4.4b H5 High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza Viruses in Ducks

https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum...athogenicity-avian-influenza-viruses-in-ducks


Excerpt:
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The total number of feathers present in a single bird is poorly known although, on average, it could account for 3-6% of the total adult body weight [36]. In 1937, George Andrew Ammann allegedly counted 25,216 feathers in a swan. Phoebe Knappen reported a total of 11,903 feathers in a female adult duck [37]. In young birds, feather growth is an extremely fast and relatively synchronous process, that can reach up to 4 cm over 10 days in 40-day-old ducks [38]. For this reason, the feather epithelium compartment represents an extremely large surface area and volume in young individuals (Figure 4A). In contrast, adult birds have a higher number of mature feathers that are associated with lower viral detection [32]. However, molting can result in increased proportion of growing feathers in adults. Different periodic and spontaneous molting processes can be observed in wild birds, which can be influenced by photoperiod, nutritional deficiency, migration timing constraints, and global warming [39,40]. Therefore, attention should not only be given to the study of host species but also to host age, breeding practices, plumage molt, and their potential impact on viral dissemination.
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The quantitative importance of the feather excretion route, compared to the respiratory and digestive shedding routes, still needs to be assessed [33]. Nevertheless, although a definitive conclusion is still premature, the intensity of the viral signal detected in the feather fraction identified in dust samples is remarkable.
...
Active viral shedding occurs along the time course of infection from pre-clinical to clinical phases [4]. However, attention should also be given to the passive post-mortem viral shedding from infected carcasses littering the ground. Stability in detached infected feathers has been demonstrated for both H5 and H7 HPAIVs in experimental conditions [12,15]. In birds, feather loss and disruption take place throughout the decomposition process [45], underlying the importance of rapid disposal of infected carcasses and complete environmental disinfection, considering also the risk of exposing cadaveric fauna (insects, arthropods etc), scavenger birds, and mammals to infectious tegument. Dispersion of feather debris may also occur during transportation of ducks from the farm to the slaughterhouse, during processing, or in live poultry markets, which play a critical role in the epidemiology and evolution dynamics of HPAIVs in many low- and middle-income countries [46].
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Combining natural and experimental infections, our findings support the environmental shedding and dissemination of H5 HPAIVs through the infected plumage of domestic ducks, which may constitute an underestimated route of transmission. Further investigations are needed to establish the importance of this alternative route compared to the fecal-oral and the respiratory-aerosol routes, and to define its impact in the implementation of biosecurity measures.
...​

 

[sharon sanders]

The CDC account tweeted this today.


CDC

@CDCgov
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6h
In rare cases, #BirdFlu can infect people. Learn how to protect yourself from #BirdFlu viruses: https://bit.ly/3JoGozi
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[Pathfinder]

Translation Google

FAO predicts a new bird flu crisis in 2024

The organization called for collaboration with notification systems to face the impact of the new avian influenza season.
​
Dec. 27, 2023, 9:20 PM CST/ Source : The Associated Press

The Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) called on the countries of the region to maintain a state of alert and collaborate with notification systems to confront better way the impact of the new avian influenza season, which due to its evolution is considered an “unprecedented situation.”

Within the framework of the III Regional Meeting of Response to the Emergency of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) held this Thursday in Santiago de Chile, the effect of this virus was estimated for 2024, and it is expected that this will be equal to or greater than last year , in which 12.5 million birds died or had to be sacrificed to contain the disease.

According to FAO analyses, this new migration season of birds traveling from the north of the continent to the south has a high probability of maintaining behavior similar to the last one.

In the United States, for example, nearly 100 new outbreaks have been recorded in the last 30 days, and in Mexico a recurrence of the H5N1 virus has been recorded in the state of Sonora since last October.

https://www.telemundo.com/shows/al-...ueva-crisis-de-gripe-aviar-en-2024-rcna131367

 

[Pathfinder]

Avian flu spreading in Louisiana, wildlife experts report

Colin Campo
Houma Courier-Thibodaux Daily Comet
Published 4:07 a.m. CT Jan. 05, 2024
...
H5N1, a strain of avian influenza, has returned to the state for the second year in a row. It's been carried in by migratory birds and threatens both ducks and domesticated poultry, experts warn. Evidence of the outbreak is anecdotal, based on calls and veterinarian findings, because these numbers aren't tracked well.
...
Last year when the virus arrived, mass die-offs were reported around the state. Researchers like Link were documenting hundreds of dead birds a day for about five days in the beginning of December 2022.
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This year, there have been no mass die-offs in Louisiana, Woodruff said. While there are no die-offs, Link said, what's odd is that the same group of birds are falling ill again to the exact same strain.

"Normally it's a different strain, and it kind of goes away… and it doesn't reinfect, so this is the first time that it's ever the same strain that's reinfecting the same flock and this year we're seeing about 20% to 25% adult mortality," he said. "So it seems to be a little bit more serious strain this year than previous years and we don't really quite know why."
...
Researchers divide ducks up into two categories: dabblers and divers. Dabblers are those most commonly hunted, and Link said last year 98% of those found dead were juvenile. This year 75% of them are juvenile and 25% are adults

This is strange, Link said, because the antibodies from survivors last year would have likely made the birds more resilient this year; however, the percentage of adults dying of the illness has risen.

The number of factors at play, said Link, is too vast to know exactly why adults are dying off more, but it could be as simple as less food. The drought that has been affecting Louisiana stunted vegetation growth and that means leaner ducks. Less calories could mean a weaker immune system, he said, or it could also be that the birds are tuckered out because they have to fly farther to find more food.

https://www.houmatoday.com/story/ne...ouisiana-wildlife-experts-report/72030838007/

 

[Pathfinder]

WCS NEWS RELEASE

Urgent Message from WCS as the Avian Influenza Virus Threatens Wildlife Across the Globe

Massive Die-Off of Elephant Seals in Argentina Due to Avian Influenza Is Latest Sign that the Virus Is an Existential Threat to Wildlife

NEW YORK , NY | JANUARY 15, 2024

New York, January 15, 2024 – The Wildlife Conservation Society is issuing the following statement about H5N1 Avian Influenza due to ongoing wildlife die-offs across the world:

Said Dr. Chris Walzer, WCS Executive Director of Health:

“With the frightening die-off of animals across the globe due to avian influenza, WCS is calling for governments internationally to treat this growing crisis with the urgency it demands. As we continue to monitor the death of innumerable species and track the movement of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) into mammal populations, we must strengthen the focus on integrating the surveillance of emerging influenza clades in wild birds and mammals to support critical vaccine libraries.

“H5N1 now presents an existential threat to the world’s biodiversity. It has infected over 150 wild and domestic avian species around the globe as well as a dozens of mammalian species. The bird flu outbreak is the worst globally and also in U.S. history, with hundreds-of-million birds dead since it first turned up in domestic waterfowl in China in 1996. Bird flu is highly transmissible, spread through droplet and feces-borne infections, and exacerbated by climate-change-altering migration schedules for birds and its repeated re-circulation in domestic poultry.

“Globally, HPAI H5N1 has now infected many mammals—including foxes, pumas, skunks, and both black and brown bears in North America. Some 700 endangered Caspian seals died from HPAI near Dagestan in 2023. Additionally, outbreaks in mink farms in Spain and Finland that serve as potential mixing vessels for reassortment have also been documented. HPAI H5N1 has arrived in Latin America with devastating consequences, afflicting multiple countries that include WCS land- and seascapes in Peru, Chile, Uruguay, Ecuador, and Argentina.

“More than 95 percent of the Southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) pups born along 300 km of the Patagonia coastline died at the end of 2023. It’s the first report of massive elephant seal mortality in the area from any cause in the last half century. The sight of elephant seals found dead or dying along the breeding beaches can only be described as apocalyptic. This 2023 die-off contrasts starkly with the 18,000 pups born and successfully weaned in 2022.

“As the virus continues to spread through mammal populations, the World Health Organization (WHO) has called on public health officials to prepare for a potential spillover of H5N1 to people. The "R naught" value—or the number of people infected by a single infected person—for COVID initially ranged from 1.5 to 7. For H5N1 among birds, it is around 100. It is imperative that we take a collaborative One Health approach to identifying emerging strains of bird flu across the globe to support the development of specific and universal vaccines that can quickly treat infection in people to prevent another pandemic.

“The cost of inaction is already causing major devastation to wildlife. As we work to help affected populations recover, we must remain vigilant against the spread of this deadly pathogen to people before it’s too late.”

https://newsroom.wcs.org/News-Relea...X*MTcwNTQyODI5NS4xLjAuMTcwNTQyODI5NS42MC4wLjA.

 

[Pathfinder]

Avian Influenza Virus Is Adapting to Spread to Marine Mammals

Findings Raise Concerns About Wildlife Conservation and Ecosystem Health

• by Kat Kerlin
• February 28, 2024

News

Elephant seals lie dead on a beach in Argentina following an outbreak of avian influenza in the region. (Maxi Jonas)

The highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1 has adapted to spread between birds and marine mammals, posing an immediate threat to wildlife conservation, according to a study from the University of California, Davis, and the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA) in Argentina.

The study, published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, is the first genomic characterization of H5N1 in marine wildlife on the Atlantic shore of South America.

For the study, scientists collected brain samples from four sea lions, one fur seal and a tern found dead at the most affected sea lion rookery in Argentina. All tested positive for H5N1.

Genome sequencing revealed that the virus was nearly identical in each of the samples. The samples shared the same mammal adaptation mutations that were previously detected in a few sea lions in Peru and Chile, and in a human case in Chile. Of note, the scientists found all these mutations also in the tern, the first such finding.

“This confirms that while the virus may have adapted to marine mammals, it still has the ability to infect birds,” saidfirst author Agustina Rimondi, a virologist from INTA. “It is a multi-species outbreak.”

Terns are among the hundreds of thousands of birds recently impacted by avian influenza. (Getty)

Sea lions nap alongside cormorants in Argentina. (Getty)

We know this because the virus sequence in the tern retained all mammal-adaptation mutations. Such mutations suggest a potential for transmission between marine mammals.

“This virus is still relatively low risk for humans,” said senior author Marcela Uhart, a wildlife veterinarian with the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine’s One Health Institute and director of its Latin America Program within the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Institute. “As long as the virus continues to replicate in mammals, it may make it a higher concern for humans. That’s why it’s so important to conduct surveillance and provide early warning.”

The journey of H5N1


Uhart calls clade 2.3.4.4b — the current variant of H5N1 – “this new monster.” It emerged in 2020, while the human world was reeling from a different pandemic, COVID-19. Avian influenza began killing tens of thousands of sea birds in Europe before moving to South Africa. In 2022, it entered the U.S. and Canada, threatening poultry and wild birds. It migrated to Peru and Chile in late 2022.

Then, almost exactly a year ago, in February 2023, highly pathogenic avian influenza entered Argentina for the first time. But it was not until August 2023 — when the virus was first found in sea lions at the tip of South America on the Atlantic coastline of Tierra del Fuego — that the virus unleashed its fatal potential in the region. From there, it moved swiftly northward, with deadly results, first for marine mammals and later for seabirds.

A recent paper Uhart co-authored showed a large outbreak killed 70% of elephant seal pups born in the 2023 breeding season. Mortality rates reached at least 96% by early November 2023 in the surveyed areas of Península Valdés in Argentina.

Dead elephant seals line a beach in Argentina in fall 2023. Avian influenza has caused the catastrophic die-off of thousands of elephant seals in Argentina, raising concerns for wildlife and cross-species transmission. (Ralph Vanstreels/UC Davis)

“When it first came to Argentina, we didn’t know if it would affect elephant seals,” Uhart said. “We never imagined the magnitude of what was to come.”

Since 2022, H5N1 in South America has killed at least 600,000 wild birds and 50,000 mammals, including elephant seals and sea lions in Argentina, Chile and Peru, and thousands of albatrosses in the Malvinas/Falkland Islands.

Moving south


The virus is now heading southward from South America, and scientists are deeply concerned about its potential impact on penguins and other wildlife in Antarctica.

Uhart and Ralph Vanstreels, her colleague at UC Davis’ Latin America Program in the School of Veterinary Medicine, are conducting wildlife surveillance for H5N1 in Antarctica this month.

“We need to keep an eye on the ability of this virus to reach species that have never been exposed to an H5N1 infection before,” Rimondi said. “The consequences in those species can be very severe.”

The concept of One Health honors the interconnectivity among humans, domestic animals, wildlife and the environment. Interspecies disease outbreaks are unsettling examples of such connections and require global collaboration among public, wildlife, agricultural, health and other sectors.

“We are trying to be at the forefront of documenting, recording and providing early warning,” Uhart said. “We’ve been in this area for 30 years. We know these species. We work with scientists who have 30 years of data on these populations, so we can know what will be important for the future. We have to give voice to these poor creatures. Nobody’s taking note of how big this is.”
​

https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/avian-influenza-virus-adapting-spread-marine-mammals

 

[sharon sanders]

FluTrackers.com
@FluTrackers
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8h
There are so many reports of avian flu in various wild & domestic animals incl. birds, mammals etc. that we can not post all of the incidences.

It is global spread.

See our site daily for info & click on Latest Posts. https://flutrackers.com/forum/

Take care of you.

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FluTrackers.com
@FluTrackers
·
8h
Very important - USDA: Zoom webinar for "Biosecurity on a Budget" from the Defend the Flock program - March 14, 2024, 2:00 PM + many links to helpful information
https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/national-international-government-ngo-preparation-response/986574-usda-zoom-webinar-for-biosecurity-on-a-budget-from-the-defend-the-flock-program-march-14-2024-2-00-pm…
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[Pathfinder]

Translation Google

Avian flu has already affected more than 40 species of mammals and is advancing in Antarctica: what scientists suggest to combat it

The infection occurred primarily in birds, but outbreaks in livestock were reported in the United States and a second case was reported in humans. What is the risk

ByValeria Roman
Apr 12, 2024 11:40 am EST

Avian flu is a viral infection that mainly affected poultry or wild birds. But since 2020, a new variant of the virus appeared that changed everything. Technically it is called “H5N1 2.3.4.4b clade.” It has already affected more than 40 species of mammals, and is expanding to more geographic regions of the world, including Antarctica .

In the United States, outbreaks of bird flu in cattle have been detected in 8 states, and a dairy farm worker in Texas contracted the disease. In humans, the symptoms of bird flu can be mild, similar to those of the common flu, or it can also lead to eye inflammation and severe respiratory symptoms.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC ) reported that he was detected with the H5N1 virus and that he was recovering with mild symptoms. The first human case in that country had been recorded in 2022. It was a Colorado man who had been directly exposed to poultry.

At a recent meeting, scientists from the US Department of Agriculture stated that the virus does not occur as a respiratory disease in livestock. That means the animals don't seem to excrete large amounts of virus through their nose or mouth.

“I want to emphasize how unusual this is,” Thijs Kuiken , a professor of comparative pathology and avian flu researcher at Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands , told NPR radio . “In other mammal species with influenza viruses, it is primarily a respiratory illness, which does not appear to be the case in these cattle.”

Meanwhile, days ago, a group of scientists presented a study that revealed the presence of the H5N1 bird flu virus in at least a small fraction of the birds in New York . People often associate zoonotic diseases with rural environments, farms or natural spaces, said Florian Krammer, an influenza expert at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York who led the study. But New York City has many green spaces and bodies of water that are used by migratory and local birds.

In dialogue with Infobae , Dr. Sergio Lambertucci , researcher at the Biodiversity and Environment Research Institute (INIBIOMA) of Conicet and the National University of Comahue of Argentina , explained: “The avian flu infection is affecting more mammals as that time passes. The presence of the virus in cattle in the United States is worrying because they are animals that are more in contact with people.”

Currently, the avian flu situation is considered to be a “ panzootic ” because it is a serious infectious disease that spreads across large areas of the world and affects one or several species of animals in many countries.

“Panzootia has not yet conquered the entire planet, but it is going in that direction. “It did reach Antarctica, affecting several species already,” he noted.

Lambertucci together with Pablo Plaza , from INIBIOMA, Víctor Gamarra-Toledo, from the National University of San Agustín, in Arequipa , Peru , and Juan Rodríguez Euguí, from the Ministry of Health of Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, published an article on the recent changes in mammalian infection patterns with avian influenza virus worldwide. The research was published in the March issue of the US CDC journal .

Why is the bird flu virus advancing?

“The current panzootic is ongoing, and the number of species that become naturally infected is increasing,” they wrote. 40 new species of mammals infected by this pathogen have been reported during the current panzootic - the scientists clarified in the work published in the CDC's journal Emerging Infectious Diseases - “so the effect on mammalian species may continue to worsen over time.” time".

The virus is reaching more areas and species of mammals that live in these places, that is, there is a high environmental circulation of this pathogen. “However, the dynamics of the virus may also be changing, in which case it is likely increasing its infectivity in rare species such as mammals,” they noted.

Exactly how mammals acquire bird flu infection is still unknown. According to the researchers, most of the scientific information available during the previous and current H5N1 event suggests that the most plausible source of infection is close contact with infected birds, including ingestion, which can occur through animal predation. sick individuals or the scavenging of corpses.

For example, in 2004, a total of 147 tigers and 2 leopards housed in zoos in Thailand became infected and died after consuming infected chicken carcasses. In China, this source of infection was also associated with the death of a tiger in 2013 and a lion in 2016.

“In the current panzootic, the first case of H5N1 infection in mink in Spain probably occurred through contact with infected birds (perhaps seagulls). Ingestion of infected bird carcasses was likely the route of infection for red foxes in the Netherlands, Finland, and Japan during 2020-2022, American sea lions in Peru in 2023, various mesocarnivores in Canada during 2021-2022, and otters ( Lutra lutra ) and a lynx ( Lynx lynx ) in Finland in 2021-2022.

But they also warned of a risk . “Studies in infected tigers, farmed minks and social species such as fur seals are worrying, raising the alarm that mammal-to-mammal transmission may have occurred .” They acknowledged that “more research is needed to confirm this possibility.”

In South America, avian flu arrived in 2022 and caused massive mortalities in sea lions and elephant seals in Peru, Chile and Argentina. “Now there is a period of relative calm. But we must maintain vigilance,” Dr. Plaza told Infobae .

In Antarctica, as an international expedition warned days ago, avian flu is harming wildlife. Aboard a sailboat, researchers scoured the Weddell Sea and the Antarctic Peninsula for a month, and found carcasses of migratory seabirds similar to seagulls, called Antarctic skuas, with flu in four of the 10 areas analyzed.

They found 50 dead skuas. On Heroína Island, where there is a large colony of Adelie penguins, “a massive mortality of these animals was observed with more than 500 corpses in the investigated place, which suggests that an abnormal mortality event may have occurred in the that several thousand penguins would have perished,” they reported.

What solutions are proposed against the advance of avian flu?

In the work published in the CDC journal , Dr. Lambertucci and his colleagues recommend against the large avian flu panzootic:

• Each country should conduct ongoing surveillance to identify any increased risk to biodiversity and human health.
• It is essential that all affected countries share all information available to them (e.g. genomic data of the H5N1 virus, species and number of individual animals affected)
• International collaboration must be intensified to obtain rapid results
• It should be noted that some less developed regions have technological and logistical barriers that make it difficult to produce and analyze information on the impact of this virus, and may need assistance.

“Strong collaboration between countries and institutions is necessary to prepare for any spread that could lead to a panzootic or human pandemic in mammals,” they stated.

In a statement, the World Health Organization (WHO) commented on the reported case of a man in Texas with bird flu. “As the virus has not acquired mutations that facilitate transmission between humans and based on the available information, the WHO assesses the public health risk that this virus represents for the general population as low and for occupationally exposed people, the risk of infection is considered low to moderate,” he said on Wednesday, April 10.
​
https://www.infobae.com/america/cie...que-sugieren-los-cientificos-para-combatirla/

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See also:

Hattip to Tetano:

Emerg Infect Dis . Recent Changes in Patterns of Mammal Infection with Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus Worldwide

​https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum...ogenic-avian-influenza-a-h5n1-virus-worldwide

 

[sharon sanders]

It is not good when, in the same day, we update our human H5N1 case list with 2 cases from such geographically distant areas as Victoria, Australia and Michigan, United States. link

 

[Treyfish]

:magnify: 51 herds we know about, only 2 humans.

 

[sharon sanders]

As a reminder - since the CDC has a plan for an H5N1 vaccine (which they have had for years):

FluTrackers does not promote any vaccine. We will provide information, pro and con, but we do not take any position about any medicines.

If you have any medical questions - contact your medical practitioner.

As usual there are a lot of people selling stuff in disease, or potential disease, outbreaks. Do your homework.

Always use at least two sources for your news, and use your common sense.

Take care of you.

 

[sharon sanders]

Just wanted to make a note.

With all of the talk of avian flu vaccines and various purchases by various governmental agencies please remember:

1) These vaccines are not tested on real people in real situations yet. It remains to be seen how safe and effective they will be.

2) It will take about a year (or more) for distribution of any avian flu vaccine to "regular people".


Do not depend on any vaccine to "save" you. If you are concerned about an avian flu pandemic - the last thing you want to do is depend on any vaccine or medicine. None of these are proven against the current H5N1 strain and there may be a priority distribution list depending on the case fatality rate in a large human outbreak.

No one knows if an outbreak will happen. But if this worries you, the best thing you can do is be sure you have some personal protective equipment available.

Also, please remember that people are always using a disease outbreak to sell stuff. Balance everything that you are seeing/reading.

Always use at least two sources for your information.

Use your common sense.

 

[Pathfinder]

Translation Google

Avian flu: “The pandemic risk is real,” says virologist Bruno Lina after the EU purchased 665,000 doses of a vaccine

“As this virus has particular potential, we are preparing a little more, just to have some answers,” says Bruno Lina, Thursday on France Inter.

Article written byfranceinfo
Radio France
Publishedon 06/13/2024 10:02

“What we need to do is prepare ,” declared Thursday June 13 on France Inter Bruno Lina, professor of virology at Lyon University Hospital, after the European Union concluded a contract allowing him to purchase, on behalf Member States, up to 665,000 doses of a vaccine preventing the transmission of avian influenza to humans, while several cases have been reported in Australia, Mexico and the United States . A market with an option for 40 million additional doses. “We are facing a risk. This pandemic risk is not major, but it is real,” underlines the member of the Health Risk Monitoring and Anticipation Committee (Covars).

“Wild birds that are present in North America have a [bird flu] virus that has not circulated in Europe,” explains the scientist. “The bird migration corridors towards the Arctic, this applies to practically all the birds in the world which migrate towards the north”, he adds, and “when the birds of Europe come back down, it is possible that a certain number of them have acquired this virus and that the situation present today in North America is transposed to Europe. “As this virus has particular potential, we are preparing a little more, just to have elements of response,” he points out.

Prevent the virus from adapting to humans

The “bird risk has actually existed since 2003 or even since 1997 ”, indicates Bruno Lina. Since then, almost 900 cases have been recorded and, in total, there have been around 480 deaths. “It’s really an avian virus, there is no transmission between humans, but when it infects humans, it often goes very badly.” “We must prevent men from being infected” and “for this virus to adapt to humans”.

The researcher at the International Center for Research in Infectious Diseases in Lyon projects himself "into a scenario which is not the most likely" . “Let’s imagine that birds are contaminated on their way down to Europe, that farm animals or animals that come into contact with humans become contaminated in turn.”

“These animals will multiply the virus and as they are mammals, they can cause modifications to the virus which would potentially adapt it to humans.”

Bruno Lina, virologist
on France Inter

"If you ever have people who are contaminated from viruses hosted by cattle, goats, cats, foxes, bears, etc., there is a risk of adaptation. In this case, it will be necessary that we treat them very quickly, we diagnose them. And above all, if the virus ever evolves, we vaccinate preventively. At that time, we will use the stock of vaccines that will have been put in place." he concludes.

https://www.francetvinfo.fr/sante/maladie/grippe-aviaire/grippe-aviaire-le-risque-pandemique-est-reel-affirme-le-virologue-bruno-lina-apres-l-achat-par-l-ue-de-665-000-doses-d-un-vaccin_6601614.html​

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Avian flu: almost a third of vaccines ordered by the EU intended for France

The European Union has purchased 665,000 doses of this vaccine intended for “people most exposed” to potential transmission of avian flu to humans. France will receive 200,000, reveals France Inter.

Article written by franceinfo
Radio France
Published on 06/13/2024 12:08

France will receive 200,000 doses of a vaccine preventing the transmission of avian flu to humans as part of an order placed by the European Union (EU), France Inter revealed on Thursday June 13. Deliveries will take place from the fourth quarter of this year, the General Directorate of Health said on the radio.

The EU has concluded a contract allowing it to purchase, on behalf of member states, up to 665,000 doses of this vaccine. The volume intended for France corresponds to a vaccination strategy targeted around possible outbreaks of avian flu. People working on farms, in contact with animals at risk, and veterinarians will be vaccinated as a priority.

The strategy of the Ministry of Health clarified in the coming weeks

Virologist Bruno Lina indicated Thursday morning on France Inter that the “avian risk” had existed since “2003 or even 1997” . Since then, some 480 people have died. “It’s really an avian virus, there is no transmission between humans, but when it infects humans, it often goes very badly,” explains the scientist, who calls for everything to be done to prevent the virus. to adapt to man.

Two vaccine strategy options are being studied. Either the risk of transmission to humans is already considered significant, and the injections will begin as quickly as possible. Either we wait for a first human case and we vaccinate everyone around us to extinguish the epidemic outbreak. The Ministry of Health must clarify its strategy in the coming weeks.

https://www.francetvinfo.fr/sante/m...es-par-l-ue-destines-a-la-france_6601797.html

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Avian flu: “We are not in a pre-pandemic”, Europe orders 700,000 doses of vaccine for humans just in case

Written by Catherine Léhé
Published on 06/13/2024 at 11:13 a.m.
Updated 06/13/2024 at 12:35 p.m.

Faced with cases of avian flu contamination in humans, 15 European countries, including France, have ordered nearly 700,000 doses of a human vaccine against avian flu. A precautionary principle even if no cases of human contamination have yet been reported in France.

Asia, Australia, Latin America and for three months, the United States have been facing cases of human contamination with avian flu. Although cases remain rare and symptoms are mild , one “multifactorial” death has been recorded in Mexico . Infected people were contaminated by mammals affected by the H5N1 virus such as cattle.

The World Health Organization estimates that the risk is very low.

Jean-Luc Guérin, professor of avian pathology at the National Veterinary School of Toulouse, in Haute-Garonne, wants to be reassuring : "We see multiplications of contaminations on mammals, on cats and wild mammals, marine mammals which show that the avian influenza virus has properties of passage to mammals, but these properties are very limited."

The specialist insists:

"Today, we are not at all in a phenomenon of these human-to-human transmissions of these viruses, therefore not at all, in a pre-pandemic phenomenon."
Jean-Luc Guerin, professor of avian pathology at the National Veterinary School of Toulouse

Nevertheless, 15 European countries, including France, have ordered nearly 700,000 doses of a vaccine for humans against avian flu (Editor's note: around 200,000 for France, according to France inter ). The European Union has even tabled an option for 40 million additional doses. Covid served as a lesson.

"The reason we do this is obviously to be prepared. Covid took us by surprise. And one of the big lessons of Covid is, first of all, to be much better prepared, and to work together in the face of this type of eventuality."
Stefan de Keersmaecker, member of the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (Hera) in Brussels.

Veterinarians and people working on farms would be the first people affected by these vaccines.

Jean-Christophe Dardenne, is a duck breeder in the Gers at Isle-Jourdain and is not worried for the moment, he tells our team of journalists:

"I don't feel in danger. Whether there is research being done, whether a vaccine is ready, that's good, you never know. If we have to be vaccinated, one day we will, but it seems a little excessive to me for the moment"
Jean-Christophe Dardenne, duck breeder in Gers

Over the past year, a vaccine deemed effective for ducks against this virus has been put in place.

(With Régis Guillon)

https://france3-regions.francetvinf...de-vaccin-pour-l-homme-au-cas-ou-2986148.html

 

[Pathfinder]

Bird flu vaccine faces hurdles without better data, critics say

MON, 01 JUL, 2024 - 16:42
GERRY SMITH AND JESSICA NIX
...
Bird flu’s health risk to the general public remains low, according to US officials. But if the virus becomes more dangerous, it’s unclear we’ll have a shot that works, according to Kate Broderick, a vaccine developer at Maravai LifeSciences, who has helped develop shots against Ebola and Zika.
...
"I can fairly confidently say the current vaccines are not raised against the strain that’s circulating now."
...

https://www.irishexaminer.com/business/companies/arid-41427337.html​

 

[Pathfinder]

Bird flu has been invading the brains of mammals. Here’s why
...
By Erin Garcia de Jesús

19 HOURS AGO
...
Some animals that have been killed by H5N1 weirdly had signs of infection only in the brain. “Flu’s a respiratory virus,” says Richard Webby, a virologist at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. “So [the respiratory system is] where it should be before anywhere else.”
...
The brain of a red fox in the Netherlands, for instance, was infected with H5N1 but not the animal’s lungs. Red foxes and mink in Canada similarly had mostly neurological disease. And bird flu didn’t seem to touch the lungs of a bottlenosed dolphin found off the coast of Florida in 2022, despite the animal having virus-infected brain tissue, Webby and colleagues reported April 18 in Communications Biology.
...
Exactly how the virus might sometimes sidestep respiratory tissues and hitch a ride directly to the brain is unclear. One possibility is that H5N1 already has that ability. “Maybe it was more common, but we just never had the numbers [of mammalian infections necessary] to see it,” Webby says.

Or perhaps when a mammal like a red fox or a dolphin takes a bite out of an infected bird, viral particles in the meat gain a direct path to the brain via nerves lining the mouth and digestive tract.
...
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/bird-mammal-brain-outbreak-influenza

-----------------
See also:

Emerg Infect Dis . Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus Clade 2.3.4.4b Infections in Wild Terrestrial Mammals, United States, 2022
https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum...n-wild-terrestrial-mammals-united-states-2022
---------------------------------
Pathogens . Zoonotic Mutation of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 Virus Identified in the Brain of Multiple Wild Carnivore Species
https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum...-the-brain-of-multiple-wild-carnivore-species
-----------------------------------
Florida - Avian influenza detected in a bottlenose dolphin recovered in March 2022
https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum...-a-bottlenose-dolphin-recovered-in-march-2022
------------------------------------
Alaska - Avian flu in mammals, 2023 - 2024
https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/united-states/h5n1-tracking-af/alaska/983742-alaska-avian-flu-in-mammals-2023-2024​

 

[Commonground]

July 15, 2024 at 6:01 AM EDT

Bird flu outbreak at Colorado farm as 5 workers reported positive: Experts warn of ‘turning point,’ call for urgent action

​BYCAROLYN BARBER​

For months, fearing that the current version of bird flu had a much higher chance of spreading to humans than previous iterations, experts have pushed for a more aggressive response from U.S. health agencies to reduce human exposure and prevent a potential pandemic. The urgency of those requests is about to rise.

Late on Sunday, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reported that five people have tested positive for bird flu among workers at an egg farm in Weld County, Colorado. Four of those cases have been confirmed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC), and one test is pending confirmation.

The cases emanated from a major flu outbreak at the farm, which affected nearly 1.8 millionchickens. The workers were in the process of destroying those chickens, a process known as culling.

Colorado’s governor has declared a disaster emergency in response to the outbreak, and the announcement by state health officials of the positive cases represents a grim landmark. It denotes the first time a cluster of human infection has been reported on a single farm in the U.S., and it again raises the stakes on the seriousness of this virus. A turning point


State health officials said the workers exhibited mild symptoms, including conjunctivitis (pink eye) and respiratory issues, and no one was hospitalized. But the incident marks the kind of turning point that experts have worried over for some time.

“I am extremely concerned that we are on the brink of this being really already in humans—and once it’s in humans, it is going to be a real problem to control,” says Seema Lakdawala, a microbiologist and immunologist at Emory University who specializes in influenza. “I will tell you that what has been driving me the past few months is trying to prevent H5 from becoming a pandemic…I have never felt that we were as close as we are now.”
​
continued: https://fortune.com/2024/07/15/bird...rn-turning-point-urgent-action-health/?abc123

 

[Pathfinder]

JULY 24, 2024
Editors' notes

Using AI, bird flu study shows greater antibody evasion in newer H5N1 strains

by University of North Carolina at Charlotte
...
According to the study, virus mutations related to "host-shifts" from birds to mammals had a statistically significant negative impact on the ability of antibodies to bind to and fight off H5N1. Researchers also found that based on the wide variety of host species and geographic locations in which H5N1 was observed to have been transmitted from birds to mammals, there does not appear to be a single central reservoir host species or location associated with H5N1's spread.

This indicates that the virus is well on its way to moving from epidemic to pandemic status in the near future.
...
"H5 related avian influenza A is an emerging pathogen in humans while being an ongoing pandemic in wildlife for over two years," said White, Assistant Professor of Bioinformatics. "Our predictive study provides a window to the future of using AI in the arms race against emerging pathogens."
...
https://phys.org/news/2024-07-ai-bird-flu-greater-antibody.html

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

Large-Scale Computational Modeling of H5 Influenza Variants Against HA1-Neutralizing Antibodies

View ORCID ProfileColby T. Ford, View ORCID ProfileShirish Yasa, Khaled Obeid, View ORCID ProfileSayal Guirales-Medrano, View ORCID ProfileRichard Allen White III, View ORCID ProfileDaniel Janies
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.07.14.603367

This article is a preprint and has not been certified by peer review [what does this mean?].
...

Abstract

In June 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a report that showed over 300 samples from 2022-2024 of highly pathogenic avian influenza have been detected in mammals (1). To date, the World Health Organization reports that there have been approximately 5 humans infected with H5N1 in 2024, but the broader potential impact to human health remains unclear. In this study, we computationally model 1,804 protein complexes consisting of various H5 isolates in 1959 to 2024 against 11 HA1-neutralizing antibodies. This study shows a trend of weakening binding affinity of existing antibodies against H5 isolates over time, indicating that the H5N1 virus is evolving immune escape of our medical defenses. This study also showcases the value of high-performance computing to rapidly model protein-protein interactions at-scale for functional insights into medical preparedness.
...

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.07.14.603367v2

 

[sharon sanders]

I just don't have the words about how this event has been handled. We need to know how the Missouri case and possibly their household member got H5(N1).

This situation is wholly unacceptable.

US - Human H5 bird flu case confirmed in Missouri (DHSS, September 06, 2024)​

 

[Commonground]

It is the fault of the CDC by withholding pertinent data that should have been disclosed from the get go. As it is being leaked, it just creates distrust, paranoia, frustration, and fear....into those that read the daily tid-bits, as they choose to drip them out, one by one, to the public. We may need to know, and may be curious and find information interesting....but the bottom line is we mostly need to be able to prepare and watch our backs against a possible pathogen that could create a very dangerous pandemic. What about "we"?

If things go badly, and the HPAI H5 threat escalates, public health are going to need the trust and support of an already pandemic-weary and skeptical public.

And public trust is an asset that is far-too-easily squandered by trying to `manage' the facts.
If things go badly, and the HPAI H5 threat escalates, public health are going to need the trust and support of an already pandemic-weary and skeptical public.
​hogvet51@substack.com

​