Avian flu: Time to rethink on-farm surveillance?
By
Thomas Gremillion on May 2, 2024
— OPINION —
The spread of bird flu to dairy cows, along with the discovery of viral fragments in
20 percent of retail milk samples, has turned an outbreak that long vexed poultry farmers into a source of stress for consumers. The situation is fraught with uncertainty as researchers’ understanding of the virus evolves, along with the virus itself. On one point, however, the evidence is in: the U.S. needs better surveillance of pathogens on large livestock farms.
As of this writing, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported confirmed cases of the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus A(H5N1) in domestic livestock in nine states. The virus is “highly pathogenic” to birds, and to many other animals, including
seals, but for now, CDC says the risk of infection to the general public “
…..H5N1 bird flu virus was first detected in 1996, it went on to
infect nearly a thousand people with over a 50 percent death rate. In 2009, an avian influenza virus that jumped to pigs—
swine flu—caused an estimated 12,469 ……
lethality in wild life populations, and its widespread transmission between many species of
mammals, including dairy cows, have raised concerns.
Exposure to infected dairy cows presumably caused the most recently confirmed case of human illness, reported by Texas officials on April 1. An earlier 2022 case, in Colorado, involved exposure to infected poultry. Both of those cases were reportedly mild. But influenza viruses are notorious for shapeshifting. The risk of A(H5N1) morphing into a pathogen that spreads easily between humans…….,
Unfortunately, we are missing a critical component of that surveillance — on the farm. Authorities with USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) have issued an …….
authorities should be pulling samples from other species, particularly pigs, which many experts see as a
critical bridge between flu viruses that kill birds and people.
more at....
:tiphat:
https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2024/05/avian-flu-time-to-rethink-on-farm-surveillance/