What to know about H5N1 bird flu in humans as a girl dies in Cambodia and her father tests positive

Catherine Schuster-Bruce
Fri, February 24, 2023 

A strain of bird flu, H5N1, can transmit between humans but it's rare.

Peter Garrard Beck/Getty Images

A girl has died in Cambodia from bird flu, health officials said.


The girl's dad is infected, but we don't know if he caught it from her.


Experts have said the risk of the virus spreading among people is low.

An 11-year-old girl has died in Cambodia from bird flu, health authorities in the country said.

The girl initially fell ill with a high fever and cough on February 16 and later died in the National Children's Hospital in Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital city, on Wednesday, the authorities said, per Reuters.

The case comes amid an outbreak of bird flu that has lead to the deaths of more than 200 million birds worldwide since early 2022, either from disease or mass culls, the World Organisation for Animal Health told Reuters.

The bird flu strain "H5 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A" or "H5N1" has infected 868 people since it was first detected in humans in 1997, and 457 of those confirmed cases died, according to the World Health Organization. Officials in Cambodia said that the girl was the first human case in a Southeast Asian country since 2014, per Reuters.

Officials believe that the young girl caught the virus from dead wild birds or animals near her home in the Prey Veng province in south Cambodia, close to the border with Vietnam — 22 chickens and three ducks were found dead nearby, per The Telegraph.

Officials have taken samples from those birds as well as at least 12 people who came into contact with the girl, according to Reuters. As of Friday, the girl's father had tested positive for the virus, but we don't know how he caught it.

Jonathan Ball, a professor of molecular virology at the University of Nottingham, UK, told the Science Media Centre on Friday that human infections are rare, and the likelihood of onward human to human transmission was "very low."

"There is always a risk of human infection, particularly in people in close contact with poultry or wild birds, and this risk increases during times where circulation of avian influenza is particularly high, as it is now," he said.
Humans don't usually catch bird flu, but it can be deadly

H5N1 causes fever, cough, and then can rapidly progress to respiratory failure, acute respiratory distress syndrome — a life-threatening condition when fluid builds up in the tiny air sacs in the lungs — and multi-organ failure, according to the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. It states that 50% of people who catch it die, but that figure can vary between countries.

James Wood, head of the department of veterinary medicine at the University of Cambridge, UK, told the SMC that many people will have been exposed to H5N1 in recent years, but only a few had caught it.

"This one case in itself does not signal the global situation has suddenly changed," he said.

Ball said that the risk to humans is still "very low."

Experts, including Ball and Wood, told the SMC that H5N1 needs to be closely monitored, in part due to recent reports of it infecting mammals like sea lions in Peru.

"There are two ways H5N1 can change – the mutations it accumulates itself over a period of time, or the mutations it develops as it links with other species," David Heymann, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine,UK, told The Telegraph.

But he cautioned that "no one can say the risk is low, high or intermediate," because a mutation or "spillover" from another species was an unpredictable, "chance event."

"By far the most likely scenario for H5N1 is that nothing happens right now," Francois Balloux, the director of the UCL Genetics Institute, UK, tweeted on Friday.

What is bird flu? 11-year-old girl in Cambodia dies from virus

Health agencies are modelling potential human-transmission scenarios for the H5N1 virus based on the Covid pandemic and the 1918 influenza outbreak

Harriet Sinclair
·Trending News Reporter
Fri, February 24, 2023 

Bird flu has spread rapidly across Europe in the most recent outbreak among poultry. (Reuters)

An 11-year-old girl has died from bird flu in Cambodia, after contracting the first known human case of the H5N1 virus in the country since 2014.

The girl became ill on 16 February and died on Wednesday, according to the country's health ministry. Her father has since been confirmed to have contracted the virus and 11 other people who came into contact with the child are being tested.

The case has put other countries on high alert for human cases of the virus, which has resulted in the deaths or culling of more than 200 million birds around the world.

Although the virus has spread rapidly among the UK's avian population, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said there is "no evidence so far that the virus is getting better at infecting humans or other mammals".


Girl, 11, dies in Cambodia after catching bird flu, government says (The Independent, 2-min read)
What is bird flu?

Avian influenza, otherwise known as bird flu, is categorised as influenza A H5N1. The virus has spread widely in birds around the world since 2021 but has thus far resulted in very few infections in humans.

According to the European Centre of Disease Control the virus is a "highly pathogenic avian influenza virus", meaning it has a high mortality rate among infected poultry.

The 2021/2022 epidemic has been among the worst recorded in Europe, and the UKHSA is currently looking into potential response scenarios should the virus begin to transmit to humans more widely.

The agency is currently assessing whether the lateral flow devices used to detect COVID could be used to test for the H5N1 virus in humans, and has been monitoring people who have come into contact with infected birds.

Arturo Casadevall, the chair of the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at Johns Hopkins University in the US, which supplied widely used coronavirus tracking data, said information on whether the 12 suspected new infections in Cambodia would be key.



The UKHSA is currently modelling several different potential scenarios of human transmission - one based on the recent coronavirus pandemic, and one based on the 1918 flu outbreak, whose fatality rate was higher.

In a potential scenario with a higher fatality rate, people could see "significant behavioural differences relative to the recent pandemic experience", UKHSA said.

Dr Meera Chand, incident director for avian influenza at UKHSA, said: "The latest evidence suggests that the avian influenza viruses we’re seeing circulating in birds do not currently spread easily to people.

"However, viruses constantly evolve, and we remain vigilant for any evidence of changing risk to the population, as well as working with partners to address gaps in the scientific evidence."

Bird flu: Health officials draw up COVID-style model looking at pandemic possibilities (Sky News, 3-min read)

Bird flu situation 'worrying'; WHO working with Cambodia


Fri, February 24, 2023
By Jennifer Rigby

LONDON (Reuters) -The World Health Organization is working with Cambodian authorities after two confirmed human cases of H5N1 bird flu were found among one family in the country.

Describing the situation as "worrying" due to the recent rise in cases in birds and mammals, Dr Sylvie Briand, the director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention, told reporters in a virtual briefing that WHO was reviewing its global risk assessment in light of the recent developments.

The U.N. health agency last assessed the risk to humans from avian flu as low earlier this month.

Cambodian authorities on Thursday reported the death of an 11-year old girl due to H5N1, and began testing 12 of her contacts. Her father, who had been showing symptoms, has also tested positive for the virus.

"The global H5N1 situation is worrying given the wide spread of the virus in birds around the world and the increasing reports of cases in mammals including humans," Briand said. "WHO takes the risk from this virus seriously and urges heightened vigilance from all countries."

Briand said it was not yet clear whether there had been any human-to-human transmission, which was a key reason to focus on the cases in Cambodia, or if the two cases were due to the "same environmental conditions," likely close contact with infected birds or other animals.

A new strain of H5N1, clade 2.3.4.4b, emerged in 2020 and has been causing record numbers of deaths among wild birds and domestic poultry in recent months. It has also infected mammals, raising global concerns.

However, unlike earlier outbreaks of H5N1, which has been around for more than two decades, this subtype is not causing significant illness in people. So far, only about a half dozen cases have been reported to the WHO in people who had close contact with infected birds, and most of those have been mild. Experts have suggested that the virus might need to change in order for human transmission to occur.

However, WHO said it was stepping up preparedness efforts regardless, and noted that there were antivirals available, as well as 20 licensed pandemic vaccines if the situation changes, although they would have to be updated to more closely match the circulating strain of H5N1 if needed.

That could take four to five months, said Richard Webby, director of the WHO Collaborating Center for Studies on the Ecology of Influenza in Animals and Birds at St. Jude Children's Hospital. However, some stockpiled vaccines would be available in the meantime.

WHO-affiliated labs already hold two flu virus strains that are closely related to the circulating H5N1 virus, which manufacturers can use to develop new shots if needed. A global meeting of flu experts this week suggested developing another strain that more closely matches H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b, Webby told the briefing.

(Reporting by Jennifer Rigby; editing by Jon Boyle, Jason Neely and Tomasz Janowski)

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for BIRD FLU 

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for H5N1 

Scientists around the world are urged to develop a new bird flu vaccine to beat the latest deadly mutation

EXCLUSIVE

While risk of a mass outbreak of bird flu among people remains low the 60 per cent fatality rate has led to a global race for a human vaccine

A notice is displayed at the Swanpool Nature Reserve in Falmouth, Cornwall, warning of cases of bird flu 

(Photo: Hugh R Hastings/Getty)

By David Parsley

Chief News Correspondent

November 27, 2022 

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has called on its four global vaccine laboratories to develop a human vaccine for the specific strain of avian flu that is rife across the world, i can reveal.

Labs in Australia, Japan, the UK and US are working together to produce a working vaccine 2.3.4.4b strain of the H5N1 virus as concerns grow that it could mutate to become easily transmissible to people and cause a second global pandemic in three years.

While the WHO and the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) do not believe there is a high risk of avian flu mutating to become an airborne virus capable of infecting humans and allowing person-to-person infection, concern remains high due to the high death rate from the virus.

Official figures from the WHO state that 60 per cent of the 868 people infected with avian flu over the past 20 years have died.

UK scientists have tested a human vaccine for bird flu in the event that the deadly virus mutates to infect people on a mass scale, but while it has shown signs of success it would not be a jab specific to the current 2.3.4.4b strain.

The MHRA is a member of one of four international WHO Essential Regulatory Laboratories, namely the WHO Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS).

The GISRS continuously monitors influenza viruses that are a risk to public health. In addition to human season influenza, this includes cases of zoonotic influenza virus infections and outbreaks of avian and other animal influenza viruses.

As part of GISRS’s preparedness plans, candidate vaccine viruses (CVVs) are developed against viruses that might pose a public health risk.

These CVVs can be used by vaccine manufacturers to develop and produce influenza vaccines.

An MHRA source said: “While CVVs related to the avian influenza viruses currently circulating in the UK are available, we are working to produce even better-matched CVVs.”

The current outbreak of avian flu has already led to the culling of almost four million birds such as chickens, ducks and turkeys in the UK and almost 100 million birds worldwide.

It is also understood that the UK’s Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) has confirmed cases of bird flu being transmitted to wild mammals, including foxes and sea life such as seals and dolphins in and around the UK, as well as across Europe and in the US. 

Leading influenza virologist Professor Wendy Barclay of Imperial College London, who sits on the Government FluMap panel, says ‘a roll of the dice’ will decide if bird flu mutates to become airborne and highly transmissible to humans (Photo: Imperial College London)

Last week i revealed that the Government’s bird flu FluMap taskforce was concerned over mutations to the current strain of the virus due to initial evidence suggesting it may be more stable than previous strains.

Professor Wendy Barclay, who is a member of FluMap, believes its “a roll of the dice” on whether or not the virus mutates to infect humans more easily.

She said: “We are monitoring for signs of the virus mutating and potentially becoming airborne. That’s how pandemics happen.

“One of the things that FluMap is checking out is whether or not this virus is a little bit more stable than previous ones, and that might be why it has been hanging around since the summer and more than we’ve seen before.”

While any mutations that allow airborne transmission of the virus to humans is expected to reduce the potency of the virus, it is likely that it remains considerably higher than the 2 per cent fatality rate that Covid-19 caused at its peak in 2020.

Professor Barclay, who is also head of department of infectious disease at Imperial College London, added: “If the virus underwent the mutations it needs to become transmissible to humans, then that 60 per cent fatality rate might go down because there is a balance with viruses where, in order to become transmissible, they have to change their nature and usually that means the fatality rate goes down, but it doesn’t always.”

Avian flu outbreak wipes out record 50.54

million U.S. birds

The deaths of chickens, turkeys and other birds represent the worst U.S. animal-health disaster to date, topping the previous record of 50.5 million birds that died in an avian-flu outbreak in 2015.

The Powers Farm white turkey flock is seen under shelter as part of an effort to prevent exposure to avian influenza on Nov. 14, 2022 in Townsend, Del.

Nathan Howard / Getty Images

Nov. 25, 2022,
By Reuters

CHICAGO — Avian flu has wiped out 50.54 million birds in the United States this year, making it the country’s deadliest outbreak in history, U.S. Department of Agriculture data showed on Thursday.

The deaths of chickens, turkeys and other birds represent the worst U.S. animal-health disaster to date, topping the previous record of 50.5 million birds that died in an avian-flu outbreak in 2015.

Birds often die after becoming infected. Entire flocks, which can top a million birds at egg-laying chicken farms, are also culled to control the spread of the disease after a bird tests positive.

Losses of poultry flocks sent prices for eggs and turkey meat to record highs, worsening economic pain for consumers facing red-hot inflation and making Thursday’s Thanksgiving celebrations more expensive in the United States. Europe and Britain are also suffering their worst avian-flu crises, and some British supermarkets rationed customers’ egg purchases after the outbreak disrupted supplies.

Bill Powers checks on his flock of white turkeys, which have been kept under shelter all year to prevent exposure to avian influenza.

Nathan Howard / Getty Images

The U.S. outbreak, which began in February, infected flocks of poultry and non-poultry birds across 46 states, USDA data show. Wild birds like ducks transmit the virus, known as highly pathogenic avian influenza, through their feces, feathers or direct contact with poultry.

“Wild birds continue to spread HPAI throughout the country as they migrate, so preventing contact between domestic flocks and wild birds is critical to protecting U.S. poultry,” said Rosemary Sifford, the USDA’s chief veterinary officer.

Farmers struggled to keep the disease and wild birds out of their barns after increasing security and cleaning measures following the 2015 outbreak. In 2015, about 30% of the cases were traced directly to wild bird origins, compared to 85% this year, the USDA told Reuters.

Government officials are studying infections at turkey farms, in particular, in hopes of developing new recommendations for preventing infections. Turkey farms account for more than 70% of the commercial poultry farms infected in the outbreak, the USDA said.

People should avoid unprotected contact birds that look sick or have died, though the outbreak poses a low risk to the general public, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

1.8 Million Chickens Slaughtered After Bird Flu Found in Nebraska Farm

The virus is primarily spread by wild birds as they migrate across the country

By Josh Funk 

Photo by Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times 

Nebraska agriculture officials say another 1.8 million chickens must be killed after bird flu was found on a farm in the latest sign that the outbreak that has already prompted the slaughter of more than 50 million birds nationwide continues to spread.

The Nebraska Department of Agriculture said Saturday that the state's 13th case of bird flu was found on an egg-laying farm in northeast Nebraska's Dixon County, about 120 miles (193 kilometers) north of Omaha, Nebraska.

Just like on other farms where bird flu has been found this year, all the chickens on the Nebraska farm will be killed to limit the spread of the disease. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says more than 52.3 million birds in 46 states — mostly chickens and turkeys on commercial farms — have been slaughtered as part of this year's outbreak.

Nebraska is second only to Iowa’s 15.5 million birds killed with 6.8 million birds now affected at 13 farms.

In most past bird flu outbreaks the virus largely died off during the summer, but this year's version found a way to linger and started to make a resurgence this fall with more than 6 million birds killed in September.

The virus is primarily spread by wild birds as they migrate across the country. Wild birds can often carry the disease without showing symptoms. The virus spreads through droppings or the nasal discharge of an infected bird, which can contaminate dust and soil.

Commercial farms have taken a number of steps to prevent the virus from infecting their flocks, including requiring workers to change clothes before entering barns and sanitizing trucks as they enter the farm, but the disease can be difficult to control. Zoos have also taken precautions and closed some exhibits to protect their birds.

Officials say there is little risk to human health from the virus because human cases are extremely rare and the infected birds aren't allowed to enter the nation's food supply. Plus, any viruses will be killed by properly cooking poultry to 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

But the bird flu outbreak has contributed to the rising prices of chicken and turkey along with the soaring cost of feed and fuel.

Copyright AP - Associated Press

 

UK’s seabirds are being decimated by bird flu

19 February 2024  

The population of great skua’s has crashed. Image: Sergey Uryadnikov/Shutterstock

A new study has revealed that bird flu is contributing to an alarming decline of some of the UK’s key seabird species

---

By Stuart Butler

With its cliffs, sand dunes, coves and offshore islands and islets, the UK’s long and often rugged coastline is home to an impressive number and diversity of seabird species. In fact, the UK hosts globally important seabird populations and it’s thought around eight million sea birds, comprising 25 different species, call the UK coastline home.

But, a new study has revealed that Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), which is commonly known as bird flu, is leading to a very steep population decline in some of our key sea bird species. Bird flu is a serious respiratory disease that seems to affect water birds and poultry mainly. It’s both highly contagious and can be fatal to infected birds. It can also occasionally infect other animals and human beings. In recent years, several major seasonal outbreaks have resulted in the mass die-off of infected wild bird populations and, worldwide, the slaughtering of millions of poultry. In 2021 and 2022, in the UK alone, it caused the death of tens of thousands of birds, and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has described bird flu as one of the biggest immediate conservation threats faced by multiple seabirds.

The study, which was produced by the RSPB in collaboration with the British Trust for Ornithology, the Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies, and other conservation organisations, has looked deeper into these statistics by surveying 13 key UK seabird species and found that the populations of nine of them had decreased by more than ten per cent since similar surveys carried out between 2015 and 2021.

Not all these declines were specifically to do with bird flu, but for gannets, great skua and roseate terns, the declines are largely attributable to bird flu, while for sandwich and common terns, bird flu is considered the most likely cause of population decline. The survey authors go on to explain that for the other five species surveyed (Arctic skua, black-headed gull, lesser black-backed gull, herring gull, great black-backed gull, kittiwake, Arctic tern and guillemot), further work is needed to understand better the likely contribution of bird flu to the declines. The situation is particularly dire for great skuas, who have seen their population plummet by 76 per cent in 2023. To make the situation more critical, the UK – and Scotland in particular – is home to more than half the world’s population of great skua.

According to the report, other threats to Britain’s seabirds include unsustainable fishing practices, predation by invasive non-native mammals, offshore wind development and climate change.

Commenting on the study results, the RSPB’s Jo Luxton, said: ‘The UK is globally important for seabirds. However, for decades, we have not looked after these natural treasures, and our seabird populations have dramatically declined because of our actions, the introduction of invasive predators to islands that destroy nests and chicks, and the increasing effects of climate change that are impacting the availability of their food. This new study shows that bird flu can be added to the long list of things that are devastating our seabirds. We know that conservation efforts and smart policies such as the recent sand eel announcement, do work and help increase the resilience of our seabirds to better weather whatever new storm is on the horizon. But we need our governments to implement these efforts and plan for a future where our seabirds are part of a thriving marine environment.’

An exotic bird which emits the smell of rotting meat could soon move to Britain because of climate change

By CHRIS POLLARD

PUBLISHED: 19 February 2024 


A bird that emits a smell of rotting meat could be on its way to Britain thanks to climate change.

But the hoopoe's vile aroma is already here – available to sniff at an exhibition in London.

Native to Africa and southern Europe, the bird has dramatic pink feathers on its head and has striking black and white wings.

However, its unique appearance is overshadowed by a foul-smelling liquid secreted from the bird's tail glands – said to be reminiscent of the back of a bin lorry.

The hoopoe bird's vile scent of rotting meat comes from a liquid that is secreted from its tail glands


Native to Africa and southern Europe, the bird has dramatic pink feathers on its head and has striking black and white wings

Due to global warming, scientists believe the hoopoe may set up home on British shores, with scores of sightings being reported every year

Due to global warming, scientists believe the hoopoe may set up home on British shores, with scores of sightings being reported every year.

Until then its sour scent, used to deter predators, can be found at the Natural History Museum show Birds: Brilliant & Bizarre.

Curator Joanne Cooper said her team had worked with a company to create a synthetic oil resembling the odour 'very closely'.

The exhibition opens on May 24.

Dairy cattle in Texas and Kansas test positive for bird flu

ZOONOSIS

H5N1 HAS MOVED TO MAMMALS

MIKE STOBBE and JONEL ALECCIA
Updated Mon, March 25, 2024 

FILE - Dairy cattle feed at a farm on March 31, 2017, near Vado, N.M. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday, March 25, 2024, that milk from dairy cows in Texas and Kansas has tested positive for bird flu.

 (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File)

Milk from dairy cows in Texas and Kansas has tested positive for bird flu, U.S. officials said Monday.

Officials with the Texas Animal Health Commission confirmed the flu virus is the Type A H5N1 strain, known for decades to cause outbreaks in birds and to occasionally infect people. The virus is affecting older dairy cows in those states and in New Mexico, causing decreased lactation and low appetite.

It comes a week after officials in Minnesota announced that goats on a farm where there had been an outbreak of bird flu among poultry were diagnosed with the virus. It's believed to be the first time bird flu — also known as highly pathogenic avian influenza — was found in U.S. livestock.

The commercial milk supply is safe and risk to people is low, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Dairies are required to only allow milk from healthy animals to enter the food supply, and milk from the sick animals is being diverted or destroyed. Pasteurization also kills viruses and other bacteria, and the process is required for milk sold through interstate commerce, the agency said.

“At this stage, there is no concern about the safety of the commercial milk supply or that this circumstance poses a risk to consumer health,” the USDA said in a statement.

The federal government said its tests in the cattle did not detect any changes to the virus that would make it spread more easily to people.

Dairy farmers in Texas first became concerned three weeks ago when cattle started falling ill with what officials called “mystery dairy cow disease," Texas Department of Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said. Milk production fell sharply and the cows were lethargic and weren't eating much.

“We hadn't seen anything like it before,” he said. “It was kind of like they had a cold.”

The state's animal health commission began an investigation that included tests for bird flu, spokeswoman Erin Robinson said. Based on findings from Texas, USDA officials think the cows got the virus from infected wild birds.

Experts say livestock appear to recover on their own within seven to 10 days. That's different than bird flu outbreaks in poultry, which necessitate killing flocks to get rid of the virus. Since 2022, outbreaks in have led to the loss of about 80 million birds in U.S. commercial flocks.

So far, the virus appears to be infecting about 10% of lactating dairy cows in the affected herds, said Michael Payne, a food animal veterinarian and and biosecurity expert with the University of California-Davis Western Institute for Food Safety and Security.

“This doesn’t look anything like the high-path influenza in bird flocks,” he said.

Bird flu was detected in unpasteurized, clinical samples of milk from sick cattle collected from two dairy farms in Kansas and one in Texas. The virus was also found in a nose and throat swab from another dairy in Texas.

Officials called it a rapidly evolving situation. The Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are involved, along with officials in the three states. Another dairy-heavy state, Iowa, said it is monitoring the situation.

Dairy industry officials said that producers have started enhanced biosecurity efforts on U.S. farms, including limiting the amount of traffic into and out of properties and restricting visits to employees and essential personnel.

Bird flu previously has been reported in 48 different mammal species, Payne noted, adding: “It was probably only a matter of time before avian influenza made its way to ruminants.”

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Bird flu detected in cows at two Kansas dairy farms. Milk is safe to drink, feds say

Eduardo Castillo
Mon, March 25, 2024



Cows at two dairy farms in Kansas tested positive for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, commonly known as bird flu, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday.

Public and federal health officials are investigating the illnesses but say it does not impact milk that is sold in Kansas grocery stores, according to a USDA news release.

“There is no concern about the safety of the commercial milk supply or that this circumstance poses a risk to consumer health,” the USDA said.

Testing was done Friday on dairy cows in Kansas, Texas and New Mexico after reports from farms that found dead birds on their properties.

“Initial testing by the National Veterinary Services Laboratories has not found changes to the virus [HPAI] that would make it more transmissible to humans,” the USDA said. “Which would indicate that the current risk to the public remains low.”

Milk from sick dairy cows will be destroyed so it does enter the public food supply chain.

HPAI usually does not infect humans, although there have been rare instances when it did, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Agencies investigating the matter include the USDA, CDC, U.S. Food and Drug Administration among other state veterinary and public health officials.

Investigation into avian flu among cows happening in New Mexico

Fallon Fischer
Mon, March 25, 2024 


NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as state veterinary and public health officials, are investigating an illness among primarily older dairy cows in New Mexico, Texas, and Kansas.

The illness, highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), is causing decreased lactation, low appetite, and other symptoms in cows, according to the USDA.

New Mexico State Veterinarian Samantha Uhrig said there have been no positive cases of HPAI in New Mexico at this time. Officials are focusing their investigation on dairy cows in the eastern part of the state.

Biologists warn hunters of dangerous PFAS levels in Holloman Lake birds

As of Monday, March 25, unpasteurized, clinical samples of milk from sick cattle collected from two dairy farms in Kansas and one in Texas, as well as a swab from another dairy in Texas, have tested positive for HPAI. Based on findings from Texas, the detections appear to have been introduced by wild birds.

According to the USDA, the current risk to the public remains low and there is no concern about the safety of the commercial milk supply. Federal and state agencies are working to conduct additional testing for HPAI, as well as viral genome sequencing. Farmers and veterinarians are asked to report cattle illnesses quickly so officials can monitor potential additional cases and minimize the impact to farmers, consumers and other animals.

The New Mexico Livestock Board said it is aware of the situation and is working with other local, state and federal agencies. The NMLB encourages dairy producers limit the amount of traffic into and out of their properties and restrict visits to employees and essential personnel only.

Veterinarians in New Mexico are being urged by the NMLB to check with other states on receiving requirements of all cattle prior to shipment. New Mexico producers and veterinarians who observe symptoms of (HPAI) are strongly encouraged to contact the New Mexico Livestock Board.

Click here to see the full news release from the USDA.

'Bird Flu' found at three Texas dairy farms, one in Kansas

FOX 26 Digital Staff
Mon, March 25, 2024 

Texas - A mysterious ailment infiltrated the Texas Panhandle, leaving the agriculture sector in a state of bewilderment until officials discovered what it was.

On Monday, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller disclosed that the United States Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, along with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), confirmed the mysterious disease plaguing the region as a strain of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), commonly referred to as Bird Flu.

According to officials, three dairies in Texas and one in Kansas have tested positive for ‘Bird Flu’ causing the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) to remain on high alert.

"This presents yet another hurdle for our agriculture sector in the Texas Panhandle," Commissioner Miller emphasized. "Protecting Texas producers and the safety of our food supply chain is my top priority. The Texas Department of Agriculture will use every resource available to maintain the high standards of quality and safety that define Texas agriculture."

Texas's state economy gets $50 billion of its earnings from the state's dairy sector and Texas ranks fourth in national milk production.

Cows at a dairy Farm in Cambridge, Wisconsin, US, on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023. Joe Biden wanted a show of strength and found it in a union hall in Wisconsin -- a state Democrats learned the hard way that they can't ignore, and one where the president sent his strongest signal yet of a reelection bid.

 Photographer: Alex Wroblewski/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesMore

The commissioner reassures consumers that dairy products remain unaffected by HPAI due to the pasteurization protocols and other safety measures.

SUGGESTED: 2024 cicada season expected to be historic with billions emerging

"There is no threat to the public and there will be no supply shortages," said Commissioner Miller. "No contaminated milk is known to have entered the food chain; it has all been dumped. In the rare event that some affected milk enters the food chain, the pasteurization process will kill the virus."

According to the Texas Department of Agriculture, cattle affected by 'Bird Flu' will exhibit flu-like symptoms such as fever and abnormal milk consistency, such as thick and discolored, leading to a significant reduction in milk production averaging between 10-30 pounds per cow throughout the herd.

Farmers are urged to promptly notify their herd veterinarian if any cattle display symptoms of the condition.

Texas dairy farms are strongly advised to implement standard biosecurity practices, including limited access to essential personnel, thorough disinfection of incoming and outgoing vehicles, segregation of affected cattle, and disposal of contaminated milk. Furthermore, sanitizing all livestock watering equipment and isolating water sources from potential contamination by waterfowl.

Economic repercussions persist as severely impacted herds may see a staggering 40% decline in milk production for seven to 10 days until symptoms subside. Enhanced biosecurity measures are recommended across dairy facilities nationwide to prevent the disease from spreading any further.

"Unlike affected poultry, I foresee there will be no need to depopulate dairy herds," Miller said. "Cattle are expected to fully recover. The Texas Department of Agriculture is committed to providing unwavering support to our dairy industry."

Bird Flu Is Bad for Poultry and Dairy Cows. It’s Not a Dire Threat for Most of Us — Yet.

2024/05/03

Headlines are flying after the Department of Agriculture confirmed that the H5N1 bird flu virus has infected dairy cows around the country. Tests have detected the virus among cattle in nine states, mainly in Texas and New Mexico, and most recently in Colorado, said Nirav Shah, principal deputy director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at a May 1 event held by the Council on Foreign Relations.

A menagerie of other animals have been infected by H5N1, and at least one person in Texas. But what scientists fear most is if the virus were to spread efficiently from person to person. That hasn’t happened and might not. Shah said the CDC considers the H5N1 outbreak “a low risk to the general public at this time.”

Viruses evolve and outbreaks can shift quickly. “As with any major outbreak, this is moving at the speed of a bullet train,” Shah said. “What we’ll be talking about is a snapshot of that fast-moving train.” What he means is that what’s known about the H5N1 bird flu today will undoubtedly change.

With that in mind, KFF Health News explains what you need to know now.

Q: Who gets the bird flu?

Mainly birds. Over the past few years, however, the H5N1 bird flu virus has increasingly jumped from birds into mammals around the world. The growing list of more than 50 species includes seals, goats, skunks, cats, and wild bush dogs at a zoo in the United Kingdom. At least 24,000 sea lions died in outbreaks of H5N1 bird flu in South America last year.

What makes the current outbreak in cattle unusual is that it’s spreading rapidly from cow to cow, whereas the other cases — except for the sea lion infections — appear limited. Researchers know this because genetic sequences of the H5N1 viruses drawn from cattle this year were nearly identical to one another.

The cattle outbreak is also concerning because the country has been caught off guard. Researchers examining the virus’s genomes suggest it originally spilled over from birds into cows late last year in Texas, and has since spread among many more cows than have been tested. “Our analyses show this has been circulating in cows for four months or so, under our noses,” said Michael Worobey, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

Q: Is this the start of the next pandemic?

Not yet. But it’s a thought worth considering because a bird flu pandemic would be a nightmare. More than half of people infected by older strains of H5N1 bird flu viruses from 2003 to 2016 died. Even if death rates turn out to be less severe for the H5N1 strain currently circulating in cattle, repercussions could involve loads of sick people and hospitals too overwhelmed to handle other medical emergencies.

Although at least one person has been infected with H5N1 this year, the virus can’t lead to a pandemic in its current state. To achieve that horrible status, a pathogen needs to sicken many people on multiple continents. And to do that, the H5N1 virus would need to infect a ton of people. That won’t happen through occasional spillovers of the virus from farm animals into people. Rather, the virus must acquire mutations for it to spread from person to person, like the seasonal flu, as a respiratory infection transmitted largely through the air as people cough, sneeze, and breathe. As we learned in the depths of covid-19, airborne viruses are hard to stop.

That hasn’t happened yet. However, H5N1 viruses now have plenty of chances to evolve as they replicate within thousands of cows. Like all viruses, they mutate as they replicate, and mutations that improve the virus’s survival are passed to the next generation. And because cows are mammals, the viruses could be getting better at thriving within cells that are closer to ours than birds’.

The evolution of a pandemic-ready bird flu virus could be aided by a sort of superpower possessed by many viruses. Namely, they sometimes swap their genes with other strains in a process called reassortment. In a study published in 2009, Worobey and other researchers traced the origin of the H1N1 “swine flu” pandemic to events in which different viruses causing the swine flu, bird flu, and human flu mixed and matched their genes within pigs that they were simultaneously infecting. Pigs need not be involved this time around, Worobey warned.

Q: Will a pandemic start if a person drinks virus-contaminated milk?

Not yet. Cow’s milk, as well as powdered milk and infant formula, sold in stores is considered safe because the law requires all milk sold commercially to be pasteurized. That process of heating milk at high temperatures kills bacteria, viruses, and other teeny organisms. Tests have identified fragments of H5N1 viruses in milk from grocery stores but confirm that the virus bits are dead and, therefore, harmless.

Unpasteurized “raw” milk, however, has been shown to contain living H5N1 viruses, which is why the FDA and other health authorities strongly advise people not to drink it. Doing so could cause a person to become seriously ill or worse. But even then, a pandemic is unlikely to be sparked because the virus — in its current form — does not spread efficiently from person to person, as the seasonal flu does.

Q: What should be done?

A lot! Because of a lack of surveillance, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other agencies have allowed the H5N1 bird flu to spread under the radar in cattle. To get a handle on the situation, the USDA recently ordered all lactating dairy cattle to be tested before farmers move them to other states, and the outcomes of the tests to be reported.

But just as restricting covid tests to international travelers in early 2020 allowed the coronavirus to spread undetected, testing only cows that move across state lines would miss plenty of cases.

Such limited testing won’t reveal how the virus is spreading among cattle — information desperately needed so farmers can stop it. A leading hypothesis is that viruses are being transferred from one cow to the next through the machines used to milk them.

To boost testing, Fred Gingrich, executive director of a nonprofit organization for farm veterinarians, the American Association of Bovine Practitioners, said the government should offer funds to cattle farmers who report cases so that they have an incentive to test. Barring that, he said, reporting just adds reputational damage atop financial loss.

“These outbreaks have a significant economic impact,” Gingrich said. “Farmers lose about 20% of their milk production in an outbreak because animals quit eating, produce less milk, and some of that milk is abnormal and then can’t be sold.”

The government has made the H5N1 tests free for farmers, Gingrich added, but they haven’t budgeted money for veterinarians who must sample the cows, transport samples, and file paperwork. “Tests are the least expensive part,” he said.

If testing on farms remains elusive, evolutionary virologists can still learn a lot by analyzing genomic sequences from H5N1 viruses sampled from cattle. The differences between sequences tell a story about where and when the current outbreak began, the path it travels, and whether the viruses are acquiring mutations that pose a threat to people. Yet this vital research has been hampered by the USDA’s slow and incomplete posting of genetic data, Worobey said.

The government should also help poultry farmers prevent H5N1 outbreaks since those kill many birds and pose a constant threat of spillover, said Maurice Pitesky, an avian disease specialist at the University of California-Davis.

Waterfowl like ducks and geese are the usual sources of outbreaks on poultry farms, and researchers can detect their proximity using remote sensing and other technologies. By zeroing in on zones of potential spillover, farmers can target their attention. That can mean routine surveillance to detect early signs of infections in poultry, using water cannons to shoo away migrating flocks, relocating farm animals, or temporarily ushering them into barns. “We should be spending on prevention,” Pitesky said.

Q: OK it’s not a pandemic, but what could happen to people who get this year’s H5N1 bird flu?

No one really knows. Only one person in Texas has been diagnosed with the disease this year, in April. This person worked closely with dairy cows, and had a mild case with an eye infection. The CDC found out about them because of its surveillance process. Clinics are supposed to alert state health departments when they diagnose farmworkers with the flu, using tests that detect influenza viruses, broadly. State health departments then confirm the test, and if it’s positive, they send a person’s sample to a CDC laboratory, where it is checked for the H5N1 virus, specifically. “Thus far we have received 23,” Shah said. “All but one of those was negative.”

State health department officials are also monitoring around 150 people, he said, who have spent time around cattle. They’re checking in with these farmworkers via phone calls, text messages, or in-person visits to see if they develop symptoms. And if that happens, they’ll be tested.

Another way to assess farmworkers would be to check their blood for antibodies against the H5N1 bird flu virus; a positive result would indicate they might have been unknowingly infected. But Shah said health officials are not yet doing this work.

“The fact that we’re four months in and haven’t done this isn’t a good sign,” Worobey said. “I’m not super worried about a pandemic at the moment, but we should start acting like we don’t want it to happen.”

© Kaiser Health News

US reports its first human case of H5 bird flu

By Shivam Patel
April 29, 2022 — 
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has announced the first known human case of H5 bird flu in the United States in a person in Colorado.

The person tested positive for avian influenza A(H5) virus and was involved in the culling of poultry presumed to have had H5N1 bird flu, the centre said in a statement.

“This case does not change the human risk assessment for the general public, which CDC considers to be low,” the agency added.


The H5 avian flu has been found in 29 American states. CREDIT:AP

The patient reported fatigue for a few days as the only symptom and has since recovered, the CDC said, adding that the person was being isolated and treated with the influenza antiviral drug oseltamivir.

H5N1 viruses have been found in US commercial and backyard birds in 29 states and in wild birds in 34 states since the centre started monitoring for illness among people exposed to the viruses in late 2021.

“CDC has tracked the health of more than 2,500 people with exposures to H5N1 virus-infected birds and this is the only case that has been found to date. Other people involved in the culling operation in Colorado have tested negative for H5 virus infection, but they are being retested out of an abundance of caution,” the CDC said.

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Globally, this is the second human case associated with this specific group of H5 viruses, which are currently predominant, the CDC said. The first was reported in Britain in December 2021.

Reuters

 NEDERLANDS

Bird flu claims over three million victims in six month outbreak 

Business April 29, 2022 

The bird flu epidemic in the Netherlands continues unabated and at least 600,000 ducks and hens have been killed this month alone, according to government figures. 

The latest case is in Lunteren, where bird flu has been found on a poultry farm with 50,000 birds. It is the fifth case of bird flu in the Gelderland town this month and 37 other farms within three kilometres of the affected location are now being checked for the disease. 

The Dutch poultry industry is concentrated around Lunteren and Barneveld in Gelderland, where some 230 farms are located within a 10 kilometre radius, local paper the Gelderlander reported.

Some three million birds have been killed because of bird flu in the six months since the disease was first identified in the Netherlands. 

The Netherlands has some 1,700 poultry farms, half of which produce eggs – totalling some 10 billion eggs a year.

 Bird flu infections have so far been found on 30 farms, most of which were producing eggs.

Read more at DutchNews.nl

 

Current bird flu epidemic found to have originated in Europe and Africa

by Bob Yirka , Phys.org

Evolution of clade 2.3.4.4b HA genes and early migration patterns of resurgent HPAI. a, 

Maximum clade credibility tree with branches colored by discrete geographic region. 

Color bars indicate host and subtype. The posterior distribution of the tMRCA is shown as

 bar charts on specific nodes. b, Continuous phylogeographic reconstruction of the spread 

of H5N8 from mid-2014 to 2017. c, Early spread of H5N8 from 2017 to mid-2020 before

 the 2020–2021 resurgence. d, Early spread of H5N1 from mid-2020 to 2021 before the 

2021–2022 resurgence. Circles represent nodes in the maximum clade credibility 

phylogeny, colored by the inferred time of occurrence. Arcs indicate direction of dispersion

 (counterclockwise) between nodes. An interval of 80% HPD is depicted by shaded areas, 

illustrating the uncertainty of the phylogeographic estimates.

 Credit: Nature (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06631-2

An international team of biologists, public health specialists and infectious disease experts reports that the current near-global bird flu epidemic has its roots in Europe and Africa. In their study, published in the journal Nature, the group analyzed bird flu data from multiple animal health databases.

Going back to 2020, infectious disease experts have found a new strain of the H5N1 bird flu virus in both wild and domestic birds. Since that time, infections have spread to every place on Earth except Oceania and Antarctica. Thus far, it is the worst bird flu outbreak in Europe's history and has killed record numbers of birds in many other countries. It has also been found to jump to other animals, including humans—to date, it has killed 458 people.

Fortunately, while the virus can leap from birds to humans, it has not yet evolved the ability to jump between people. In this new effort, the research team sought to find the origins of the new outbreak by analyzing information in databases of statistics about animals, including bird deaths, around the globe.

The data came from two massive databases, one maintained by the World Organization for Animal Health and another by the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization. The team also obtained genetic information from several entities that have been tracking bird deaths due to bird flu from multiple sites around the world.

The researchers found that a major shift has occurred with bird flu—where once new strains almost always originated in Asia, the new variant came from Africa and Europe. They found that it was a new variant of H5N1, the strain that originated in China back in mid-1990s. Genetic analysis showed that the new version of the variant had originated in north Africa as H5N8. As it moved to Europe, it evolved to H5N1, where it become more virulent, resulting in massive bird losses. Since that time, it has spread to most of the rest of the world.

The researchers suggest that the evolutionary path of the virus represents a major shift in bird flu evolution—one that will require a new approach by officials and health experts hoping to quash the outbreak before the virus adapts to jump between humans, and before the next new strain arrives.

More information: Ruopeng Xie et al, The episodic resurgence of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5 virus, Nature (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06631-2

Journal information: Nature 

© 2023 Science X Network

Cambodian man dies from bird flu

The first case of a walrus dying of bird flu registered on Svalbard

“The main concern is that the virus could jump on humans and cause a new pandemic”, scientists warn.

The first case of walrus dying from bird flu was detected on Svalbard. 

Photo: Thomas Nilsen


Text: Elizaveta Vereykina
April 30, 2024

The first case of a walrus dying from bird flu has been detected on Hopen Island in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, Christian Lydersen, senior scientist at the Norwegian Polar Institute told the Barents Observer on Tuesday, April 30.

Hopen island is located in the south-east of the the archipelago of Svalbard. Photo: Geokart.npolar.no

According to Lydersen, the samples from the dead walrus were collected last year on Svalbard by Håvard Lervik Hansen from The Norwegian Meteorological Institute, who used just ordinary q-tips to take samples from the eyes, nose, and mouth of a dead walrus. The samples were then sent by Lydersen’s team to a lab in Germany, where the virus was detected.

“Walruses eat birds and last year there were a lot of dead birds in Norway because of the bird flu.”, Christian Lydersen said and added that there is a high probability that some other groups of dead walruses also could be infected with the bird flu:

“Last year we got several reports from tourists and scientists that they saw around six walruses dead here on the west side of Svalbard. Unfortunately, we couldn’t sample them as the dead walruses drifted away by the time we got to the place. But it’s not normal to get so many reported dead walruses in such a small area. Walruses tend to lie on top of each other. So if one has the bird flu, there is a very good chance that the flu was spread to others.”

Christian Lydersen (on the right), senior scientist at the Norwegian Polar Institute, during fieldwork. Photo: Kit M. Kovacs / Norwegian Polar Institute

 

The fact that more mammals are now dying from what originally was a disease for birds, is a potential danger for humanity as well. While there have already been rare cases of humans becoming infected with the bird flu, the situation hasn’t escalated to a pandemic yet.

“The concerning part is that the bird flu virus has shown the ability to be able to mutate, to go from birds to mammals and has already been found in humans, - Kathrine A. Ryeng, a veterinary scientist from the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research told The Barents Observer. “The main concern is that the virus could cause a new pandemic among humans”.

Dr. Kathrine A. Ryeng, veterinary scientist from the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research. Photo: personal archive

This could also affect another resident of Svalbard - the polar bear, whose estimated population on the archipelago is around 3,000. The first case of a polar bear dying of bird flu has already been registered in Alaska this year.

 

“Walrus carcasses are normally eaten by polar bears. So potentially the spread of the virus among walruses could be bad for polar bears. But I don’t think there is any point in screaming wolf before the wolf is here”, Christian Lydersen told the Barents Observer. But anyway, during his fieldwork on Svalbard this year, his team is going to be on alert and sample as many dead mammals as possible.

 

Bird flu could be dangerous for polar bears on Svalbard.  Photo: Thomas Nilsen

 

As the tourism season is opening up more on Svalbard this summer, there will be increased chances that multiple visitors on the archipelago will be able to spot dead animals:

“It’s important for us to tell people that they shouldn’t touch a dead mammal if they see one, and report it to the local authorities as soon as possible”, Christian Lydersen, senior scientist at the Norwegian Polar Institute told the Barents Observer.

In case you see a dead mammal on Svalbard, you can report it to The Polar Institute of Svalbard or the office of the Governor of Svalbard.