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The outbreak of H5N1 in dairy cattle in United States revealed challenges in identification and management of a novel disease. The virus showed an exceptional ability to spread between farms and among cows within a farm. The impact of the virus on dairy cattle varied from nonclinical to severe clinical signs and death. Many dairy producers did not report clinical signs in their cows or test for the virus. Cats and peridomestic birds on many affected dairies died from viral exposure. Dairy workers showed signs of conjunctivitis, which was confirmed to be due to H5N1. With the disease affecting multiple species and showing efficient cow-to-cow transmission, the situation only worsened. There was a negative impact on the relationships among dairy producers, dairy workers, poultry producers, and veterinarians, in which professional and personal relationships were severed and some experienced loss of employment. The regulatory response varied by geographic location, and in some states, animal health and human health authorities elevated producer fears of consequences of reporting. Authorities did quickly confirm that pasteurization inactivated the virus in dairy products and showed that it was very rarely detected in beef from affected cows. In this review, we will describe the relationships among the dairy industry and animal and human health and why the H5N1 outbreak requires a One Health perspective of all stakeholders in order to address it effectively.
Additionally, Dr. Poulsen called attention to the work of Dr. Jason Lombard, whom I know well from our careers at Veterinary Services, plus since then in conferring on H5N1 in dairy cattle. Keith mentioned Jason’s growing evidence that this virus moves between herds by more influenza-typical between herd spread - exact mechanism(s) still undetermined but likely nasal, oral, possibly dust or insects, etc. with oronasal colonization. I and others have also advocated for this theory, based on epidemiological evidence of explosive spread in areas of high cattle density as well as its onward spread to nearby poultry flocks from infected dairy herds. A good non-referenced summary of Jason’s findings to date can be found here:
…One of the early hints that the virus could be spreading through a route other than contact with infected milking machines, Lombard said, was that the virus was spreading through herds quickly, more quickly than would be the case with machine-based spread.
Another clue, he said, came from identifying that antibodies for the virus were first showing up in cattle’s bloodstream prior to detection in the milk. That finding, he said, suggested cattle were being exposed to the virus by a route other than from contact with infected machines…
In addition to learning about how the virus spreads, there have been other initial takeaways from the sampling done by Lombard’s team. Notably, he said, they detected the virus intermittently, which can make the virus more difficult to track because an animal might not test positive one day but might still be shedding the virus. Generally, Lombard said, cattle also appeared to shed the virus for a particularly long period, in some cases more than 10 weeks.
Lombard said the team’s sampling also revealed that cattle could shed the virus up to seven days prior to showing clinical signs — a so-called “subclinical” period similar to how COVID-19 behaves in humans. “By the time you have clinical signs,” Lombard said, “it’s everywhere.”
more... https://hogvet51.substack.com/p/h5n1-out-of-the-headlines-catching
