Invasive Species, Fellow Travelers, Zoonoses

Invasive Species, Fellow Travelers, Zoonoses 2

Thijs Kuiken @thijskuiken | 3:47 PM · Nov 5, 2023:
Professor of Comparative Pathology. Emerging diseases. One Health. Rapid transition to a sustainable society.

Highly pathogenic avian #influenza #H5N1 confirmed as cause of death in 50 #flamingos in Antofagasta de la Sierra, province of #Catamarca, #Argentina. That is north of flamingo mortality (photo) in @RamsarConv site Laguna Brava, La Rioja. #vogelgriep https://mdzol.com/sociedad/2023/11/4/el-senasa-confirmo-el-hallazgo-de-50-flamen...

Photo dead flamingos ( https://twitter.com/thijskuiken/status/1721267969257263290/photo/1 )

Here we Caulerpa again?

Shark Science @SharkScience | 2:59 PM · Nov 3, 2023:
Cape Canaveral Scientific: not-for-profit Marine Biological & Ecological Research - sharks, other fishes, & ocean ecosystems.

Codium in massive quantities on Nantucket Sound, #CapeCod Massachusetts.
Photo ( https://twitter.com/SharkScience/status/1720516055255134364/photo/1 )
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Drouin, A., McKindsey, C.W. & Johnson, L.E. Dynamics of recruitment and establishment of the invasive seaweed Codium fragile within an eelgrass habitat. Mar Biol 163, 61 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-016-2832-z Open access https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00227-016-2832-z

Researchers have created chickens that can resist real-life doses of avian flu viruses.

In ‘proof of concept,’ CRISPR-engineered chickens shrug off flu
Edits to one bird gene can’t completely stop infections, however
Jon Cohen | 10 Oct 2023

...researchers put an avian influenza virus into the nostrils of 20 2-week-old chicks, only half of which had the modified gene. All the wild-type birds became infected, but only one of the 10 genetically edited ones. That infected bird did not transmit to other birds with the resistance gene, further work showed.

...influenza viruses often mutate around restrictions presented by host cells. And that’s just what happened ...

...Virologist Sander Herfst of Erasmus University Medical Center worries there is a “high probability” that if mutant viruses arise because of gene edits in chickens, they will be better adapted to mammals as well. “A water-tight system where no more replication takes place in chickens is necessary,” says Herfst, who has traced how avian flu viruses can evolve to transmit between mammals.

The answer, other researchers say, is more CRISPRing...

Even if genome edits can fully protect birds without harming their health, engineered chickens will face regulatory concerns before they can reach the market. Because the small gene edits made by CRISPR mimic mutants that already exist in nature, the regulatory barriers will be lower than for earlier approaches that introduced entirely new genes or mixed genomes of different species.

But the CRISPRed chickens will need to win over consumers as well...

https://www.science.org/content/article/proof-concept-crispr-engineered-chickens...
https://scim.ag/4Jf

Avian flu kills more than 61 million birds, but CDC still sees only a slight threat to humans
Dan Flynn | November 8, 2023

After a summer pause, the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) epidemic in the United States resumed last month, first as a single event, then as a cluster of cases, and it is now spreading across at least 14 states.

...The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently updated its HPAI epidemic, saying the “viruses are currently circulating widely in wild birds and poultry in many geographic regions, relatively few human cases of A(H5N1) have been reported in recent years

“From January 2022 through Oct. 24, 2023, seventeen sporadic human cases of A(H5N1) were reported from eight countries, including eight cases of severe disease and four deaths, two cases of mild illness, and seven asymptomatic cases.”

CDC said only one case of the A(H5N1) virus was reported in the U.S. in April 2022...

https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2023/11/avian-flu-kills-more-than-61-million-bird...

In a new @ScienceTM Review, researchers discuss the threats posed by “backyard #zoonosis” from companion animals and peri-domestic species, accounting for the human-animal interface and population dynamics.
Infographic ( https://twitter.com/ScienceMagazine/status/1724004210914496756/photo/1 )
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Amandine Gamble et al. 2023. Backyard zoonoses: The roles of companion animals and peri-domestic wildlife (Review). Science Translational Medicine 18 Oct 2023 Vol 15, Issue 718. DOI:10.1126/scitranslmed.adj0037 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scitranslmed.adj0037 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scitranslmed.adj0037

Abstract
The spillover of human infectious diseases from animal reservoirs is now well appreciated. However, societal and climate-related changes are affecting the dynamics of such interfaces. In addition to the disruption of traditional wildlife habitats, in part because of climate change and human demographics and behavior, there is an increasing zoonotic disease risk from companion animals. This includes such factors as the awareness of animals kept as domestic pets and increasing populations of free-ranging animals in peri-domestic environments. This review presents background and commentary focusing on companion and peri-domestic animals as disease risk for humans, taking into account the human-animal interface and population dynamics between the animals themselves.

Great map, though scary...friend tells me CWD is now in Yellowstone...
Chronic Wasting Disease caused by a prion affects deer, elk, moose, etc. Not...yet... known in humans but macaques have been infected, experimentally.

Distribution of Chronic Wasting Disease in North America
https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/distribution-chronic-wasting-disease-north-ame...

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Is Warming Bringing a Wave of New Diseases to Arctic Wildlife?
By Ed Struzik • November 6, 2018

Rapid warming and vanishing sea ice in the Arctic has enabled new species, from humpback whales to white-tailed deer, to spread northward. Scientists are increasingly concerned that some of these new arrivals may be bringing dangerous pathogens that could disrupt the region’s fragile ecosystems...

https://e360.yale.edu/features/is-warming-bringing-a-wave-of-new-diseases-to-arc...
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Avian flu feared in Canadian polar bears after disease kills bear in Alaska
Bob Weber, The Canadian Press | 4 Jan 2024

...It's not clear yet how far the virus has spread among Arctic mammals. Alaska has found it in red foxes, a black bear and a Kodiak bear.
...{Andrew Derocher, a leading polar bear biologist at the University of Alberta} said climate change is likely increasing the bears' exposure, as diminishing sea ice keeps them on shore longer and forces them to subsist on prey such as dead birds. Those extended shorebound periods of relative scarcity also weaken the bears.

"Immune system function goes down. With weakened immune systems, they're more likely to succumb."

As well, polar bears are more vulnerable to viruses than other bears, said John Whiteman, chief researcher at Polar Bears International and professor at Old Dominion University in Virginia. While evolving for the Arctic, they lost much of their genetic "library" of possible pathogens and how to resist them.

"If you can recognize a lot of pathogens, you're in better shape to fight them off," said Whiteman. "Polar bears don't recognize a lot of pathogens."...

https://www.villagereport.ca/village-picks/avian-flu-feared-in-canadian-polar-be...

Arctic zombie viruses in Siberia could spark terrifying new pandemic, scientists warn
Robin McKie | 21 Jan 2024

Threat of outbreak from microbes trapped in permafrost for millennia raised by increased Siberian shipping activity

Ancient viruses frozen in the Arctic permafrost could one day be released by Earth’s warming climate and unleash a major disease outbreak, they say.

Strains of these Methuselah microbes – or zombie viruses as they are also known – have already been isolated by researchers who have raised fears that a new global medical emergency could be triggered – not by an illness new to science but by a disease from the distant past.

As a result, scientists have begun planning an Arctic monitoring network that would pinpoint early cases of a disease caused by ancient micro-organisms. Additionally, it would provide quarantine and expert medical treatment for infected people in a bid to contain an outbreak, and prevent infected people from leaving the region...

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/jan/21/arctic-zombie-viruses-in-siberia...

Deer Are Beta-Testing a Nightmare Disease
Katherine J. Wu | February 1, 2024

Prion diseases are poorly understood, and this one is devastating....chronic wasting disease (CWD), a highly lethal, highly contagious neurodegenerative disease that is devastating North America’s deer, elk, and other cervids.

...In the half century since it was discovered in a captive deer colony in Colorado, CWD has worked its way into more than 30 U.S. states and four Canadian provinces, as well as South Korea and several countries in Europe. In some captive herds, the disease has been detected in more than 90 percent of individuals; in the wild, Debbie McKenzie, a biologist at the University of Alberta, told me, “we have areas now where more than 50 percent of the bucks are infected.” And CWD kills indiscriminately, gnawing away at deer’s brains until the tissue is riddled with holes. “The disease is out of control,” Dalia Abdelaziz, a biochemist at the University of Calgary, told me.

...CWD is, in many ways, “the most difficult” among them to contend with—more transmissible and widespread than any other known...Scientists are quite certain that CWD will be impossible to eradicate; even limiting its damage will be a challenge, especially if it spills into other species, which could include us.

...whereas most other prion diseases primarily keep quarters in the central nervous system, CWD “gets in pretty much every part of the body,” (Marcelo Jorge, a wildlife biologist at the University of Georgia) told me. Deer then pass on the molecules, often through direct contact; they’ll shed prions in their saliva, urine, feces, reproductive fluids, and even antler velvet long before they start to show symptoms. Candace Mathiason, a pathobiologist at Colorado State University, and her colleagues have found that as little as 100 nanograms of saliva can seed an infection. Her studies suggest that deer can also pass prions in utero from doe to growing fawn.

...Deer also ingest prions from their environment, where the molecules can linger in soil, on trees, and on hunting bait for years or decades... prions are so structurally sound that they can survive nearly any standard environmental assault.

...In laboratory experiments, CWD has proved capable of infecting rodents, sheep, goats, cattle, raccoons, ferrets, and primates. But so far, jumps into non-cervid species don’t seem to be happening in the wild—and although people eat an estimated 10,000 CWD-infected cervids each year, no human cases have been documented. Still, lab experiments indicate that human proteins, at least when expressed by mice, could be susceptible to CWD too, Sabine Gilch, a molecular biologist at the University of Calgary, told me.

...The world is unlikely to ever be fully rid of CWD; even the options to slow its advance are so far limited. Efforts to survey for infection depend on funding and researchers’ time, or the generosity of local hunters for samples; environmental decontamination is still largely experimental and tricky to do at scale; treatments—which don’t yet exist—would be nearly impossible to administer en masse. And culling campaigns, although sometimes quite effective, especially at the edges of the disease’s reach, often spark public backlash.

...Vaccines, in theory, could help, and in recent years, several research groups...have made breakthroughs in overcoming the immune system’s inertia in attacking proteins that look like the body’s own. Some strategies try to target the problematic, invasive prions only; others are going after both the prion and the native, properly folded protein, so that the vaccine can do double duty, waylaying the infectious invader and starving it of reproductive fodder...One ...seemed to hasten the progression of disease in elk.

Vaccines for wildlife are also tough to deliver, especially the multiple doses likely needed in this case. Instead, .... researchers plan to compound their formula with a salty apple-cider slurry that...wild cervids might eat with some regularity...

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2024/02/deer-chronic-wasting-disease...

A Mysterious Virus Called 'Alaskapox' Is Emerging. Here's What We Know.
David Nield | 16 February 2024

...The few cases diagnosed since Alaskapox was first identified in 2015 have typically been associated with mild symptoms, including joint and muscle pain, swollen lymph nodes, and one or more bumps or pustules on the skin.

The virus usually clears up after a few weeks but can be more dangerous for people with weakened immune systems.

An elderly man on the Kenai Peninsula has become the first known individual to die as a result of Alaskapox. It's only the seventh case since it was first identified, but in a location more than 500 kilometers (311 miles) from the first, which was reported in Fairbanks, Alaska.

The patient in the fatal case reported a red sore under his right armpit, followed by burning pain sensations and feelings of fatigue.

It is believed the fact he was undergoing treatment for cancer may have contributed to his body being in a vulnerable state, and therefore at heightened risk of complications from the virus.

...Alaskapox is more geographically widespread than previously thought and that more awareness of the risks is needed, especially for the immunocompromised.

... it appears that Alaskapox spreads through small mammals, particularly red-backed voles and shrews. While humans can catch it from animals, there's been no sign of human-to-human transmission.

The virus is part of the orthopox group, of which smallpox is probably the most well-known – they're characterized by the way that they cause lesions (the 'pox') on the skin, as also happens with Alaskapox...

..."It is likely that the virus is present more broadly in Alaska's small mammals and that more infections in humans have occurred but were not identified...More animal testing is occurring to better understand the distribution of the virus in animal populations throughout Alaska" explains a FAQ written by the Alaska Division of Public Health.

https://www.sciencealert.com/a-mysterious-virus-called-alaskapox-is-emerging-her...

The next pandemic? It’s already here for Earth’s wildlife
Diana Bell | 11 March 2024

...the highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza H5N1 (HPAI H5N1), otherwise known as bird flu...has killed millions of birds and unknown numbers of mammals, particularly during the past three years.

...This is how a newly discovered virus in Chinese poultry came to threaten so much of the world’s biodiversity.

The first signs
A roving sickness
At the crossroads

...How can we stem this tsunami of H5N1 and other avian influenzas? Completely overhaul poultry production on a global scale. Make farms self-sufficient in rearing eggs and chicks instead of exporting them internationally. The trend towards megafarms containing over a million birds must be stopped in its tracks.

To prevent the worst outcomes for this virus, we must revisit its primary source: the incubator of intensive poultry farms.

https://theconversation.com/the-next-pandemic-its-already-here-for-earths-wildli...
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Plaza, P. I.*, Gamarra-Toledo, V., Euguí, J., & Lambertucci, S. A. (2024). Recent Changes in Patterns of Mammal Infection with Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus Worldwide. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 30(3), 444-452. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid3003.231098. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/3/23-1098_article

Abstract
We reviewed information about mammals naturally infected by highly pathogenic avian influenza A virus subtype H5N1 during 2 periods: the current panzootic (2020–2023) and previous waves of infection (2003–2019). In the current panzootic, 26 countries have reported 48+ mammal species infected by H5N1 virus; in some cases, the virus has affected thousands of individual animals. The geographic area and the number of species affected by the current event are considerably larger than in previous waves of infection. The most plausible source of mammal infection in both periods appears to be close contact with infected birds, including their ingestion. Some studies, especially in the current panzootic, suggest that mammal-to-mammal transmission might be responsible for some infections; some mutations found could help this avian pathogen replicate in mammals. H5N1 virus may be changing and adapting to infect mammals. Continuous surveillance is essential to mitigate the risk for a global pandemic.

Final Considerations
Given the magnitude of the current H5N1 panzootic, continuous surveillance is necessary to identify any increase in risk to biodiversity and human health. It is therefore essential that all affected countries share all their available information (e.g., genomic data of the H5N1 virus, species, and number of individual animals affected). We urge that all findings be shared quickly. International collaboration must be intensified to obtain rapid results; some less-developed regions have technologic and logistic barriers that hinder the production and analysis of information on the impact of this virus, and they may need help. There is a need for strong collaborative work between countries and institutions in preparation for any spillover that may lead to a mammalian panzootic or human pandemic.

It is fundamental that we rethink the interface between humans, domestic animals, and wild animals to prevent the emergence of dangerous pathogens that affect biodiversity and human health (48). Governments must assume responsibility for protecting biodiversity and human health from diseases caused by human activities, particularly diseases originating from intensive production (50), such as this H5N1 avian influenza virus. If we hope to conserve biodiversity and protect human health, we must change the way we produce our food (poultry farming, in this specific case) and how we interact with and affect wildlife.

* Dr. Plaza is a veterinarian and research associate at the Conservation Biology Research Group, Ecotone Laboratory, Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Research (INIBIOMA), National University of Comahue–National Scientific and Technical Research Council, San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina. His primary research interests include wildlife health and epidemiology, human–wildlife interactions, and animal conservation.

In addition to Cyprus, FIP has been reported in China (Wuhan!). According to video, some Cypriot kitties have been taken to Germany and Netherlands, so cat is out of the bag, so to speak? As far as known, only transmissible cat-to-cat, not to dogs or to humans. Hope not transmissible to mustelids (~55 species of ferrets, polecats, badgers, martens, otters, mink, wolverine, etc.)

Deadly feline coronavirus raises fears in Cyprus (4:31)
DW News | Mar 16, 2024

In Cyprus, there are as many cats as there are people. But the number of cats is declining. A variant of feline coronavirus that is deadly for cats has been spreading across the Mediterranean island.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq7Gl0Lza8g
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Diane D. Addie 2019. Feline infectious peritonitis: answers to frequently asked questions concerning FIP and coronavirus. Veterinary Nursing Journal. 2019; 34(8): 201–206. Published online 2019 Jul 23. doi: 10.1080/17415349.2019.1629366 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7147232/

If we allow the FIP patient home, will he put the other cats at risk?
Do we need to isolate a cat with FIP?
Which cat litter is best to minimise FCoV transmission?
What temperature should I set the washing machine or dishwasher to kill FCoV and other pathogens?
Did my cat catch FCoV/FIP in your practice?
When clients lose their cat to FIP, how long should they wait before obtaining a new cat or kitten? How long does the virus survive in the house?
How can the client prevent their other cats developing FIP? Advice for people with FCoV antibody-positive healthy cats
How can we make our clientele more aware of FIP?

A frog once used for pregnancy test was transported worldwide, along with a "chytrid" fungus that wiped out naive frog populations--worldwide... https://www.bbcearth.com/news/how-a-pregnancy-test-caused-a-catastrophe-for-frog...

Frog with baggage: Invasive species do not arrive alone
Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum | May 30, 2023

...greater attention should be paid to the spread of microbiota by alien species in order to prevent the propagation of vector-borne pathogens as well as non-pathogenic microbes.

"Community ecology concepts are at the heart of a holistic understanding of the dynamics and mechanisms of biological invasions. This is especially true when assessing the complex and diverse microbiota associated with each invasive species. To date, traditional studies have largely failed to account for these nested immigrations, and thus have ignored a potentially important aspect of invasion processes. However, we can summarize by saying that alien species do not arrive alone! Our approach can complement and broaden the traditional perspective on biological invasions—not least to provide improved conservation measures in the future," concludes {Dr. Raffael Ernst from the Senckenberg Natural History Collections in Dresden}.

https://phys.org/news/2023-05-frog-baggage-invasive-species.html
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More information: Franziska Leonhardt et al, From Alien Species to Alien Communities: Host- and Habitat-Associated Microbiomes in an Alien Amphibian, Microbial Ecology (2023). DOI: 10.1007/s00248-023-02227-5

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) identified in Texas and Kansas dairy cattle
Joe Armstrong, DVM, University of Minnesota Extension and Tim Goldsmith DVM, MPH, University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine | 25 March 2024

...Based on the findings from Texas, the virus appears to have been introduced by wild birds...risk to the public is considered low and there is no concern about the safety of the commercial milk supply and no concern that this issue poses a risk to consumer health. Pasteurization has continually proven to inactivate bacteria and viruses, like influenza, in milk. ...

Additional locations with similar case profiles have been identified and are waiting for test results.

...Animals do not appear to be dying from this disease in impacted herds. In impacted herds, approximately 10% of cattle are affected, with most cases affecting mid to late-lactation mature cows. Impacted herds are experiencing approximately 10 to 20% reduction in milk production for 14 to 21 days. At this time, dry cows, fresh cows, heifers and calves do not appear to be affected.

Symptoms in affected cattle
Symptoms last between 10 and 14 days with the worst of the symptoms peaking in the first 3 to 5 days.
A sudden drop in milk production, with severe cases producing thicker, more concentrated milk that appears colostrum-like.
A drop in feed intake and rumination activity.
Most have tacky, dehydrated feces; a small number have loose feces.
Can experience secondary infections including pneumonia and mastitis.

Biosecurity measures needed
Based on these cases, cattle (dairy and beef) owners are encouraged to follow recommended biosecurity practices to reduce or eliminate livestock and avian interaction including:

Minimize or eliminate (when possible) poultry and livestock species access to ponds, wetlands, and other stagnant water sources frequented by wild waterfowl (ducks, geese, swans).
Monitor cattle for signs of illness, this includes decreased milk production, decreased feed intake, fever, dry or tacky feces and depression.
Monitor domestic poultry for illness, this includes reduced appetite, reduced water intake and unexplained deaths.
Monitor cats, wild waterfowl and wildlife that are frequently found around livestock facilities for illness or unexplained deaths.
Consider housing poultry separately from other livestock and minimize poultry access to pasture areas that are grazed by other livestock.
Minimize or eliminate (when possible) poultry, waterfowl and wildlife access to potentially shared water sources and feedstuffs (cover and secure feed piles).
Many cattle are vaccinated against Parainfluenza-3 (PI-3), a virus that can cause respiratory issues. Parainfluenza viruses are in a different family from influenza viruses and the PI-3 vaccine does not protect against influenza.
If you feel your herd’s symptoms are consistent with an Influenza A infection, consult your herd veterinarian or {public health authorities} immediately.

https://extension.umn.edu/news/highly-pathogenic-avian-influenza-hpai-identified...

Bird flu discovered in U.S. dairy cows is ‘disturbing’
Jon Cohen | 26 Mar 2024

Scientist who tracks infections on cattle farms discusses implications of recently announced virus detections

...Three U.S. states—Texas, Kansas, and New Mexico—on 25 March reported cows sickened with what scientists are presuming is the same H5N1 strain of influenza that has killed hundreds of millions of poultry and wild birds...Earlier this month, HPAI was found in a goat in Minnesota, the first case in U.S. livestock.

...it may signal this bird flu strain is spreading directly between cattle, instead of via birds, and has mutated in ways that could allow it to better infect people. But preliminary studies on the affected cows show no signs that the virus has changed

...We found equine influenza in camels in Mongolia, and it was probably the sharing of a water hole in in the desert.

...Is a viable virus aerosolized? Is it coming out in the feces? Or is it simply a respiratory pathogen that is moving through direct contact from cattle to cattle? I would think that there’s some indication with this rapid multistate spread that this thing is airborne...

https://www.science.org/content/article/bird-flu-discovered-u-s-dairy-cows-distu...

Raj Rajnarayanan @RajlabN | 1:50 PM · Mar 29, 2024:
Assistant Dean of Research and Associate Professor, NYITCOM at Arkansas State University

Avian Flu Clade 2.3.4.4b update
Looked at newly uploaded sequences (GISAID) from Dairy Cattle and birds from Texas
Dairy Cows, Blackbirds and Common Grackle have similar mutation pattern...
https://twitter.com/RajlabN/status/1773769597881073814/photo/1

"USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) has now also confirmed the presence of HPAI in a Michigan dairy herd that had recently received cows from Texas."
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/news/agency-announcements/usda-fda-cdc-share-update-h...
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USDA, FDA and CDC Share Update on HPAI Detections in Dairy Cattle
|29 March 2024.

"...USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) has now also confirmed the presence of HPAI in a Michigan dairy herd that had recently received cows from Texas. Presumptive positive test results have also been received for additional herds in New Mexico, Idaho, and Texas; USDA will share updates if those tests are confirmed positive by NVSL. Federal and state agencies continue to conduct additional testing in swabs from sick animals and in unpasteurized clinical milk samples from sick animals, as well as viral genome sequencing, to assess whether HPAI or another unrelated illness may be underlying any symptoms

The NVSL has also confirmed that the strain of the virus found in Michigan is very similar to the strain confirmed in Texas and Kansas that appears to have been introduced by wild birds (H5N1, Eurasian lineage goose/Guangdong clade 2.3.4.4b). Initial testing has not found changes to the virus that would make it more transmissible to humans. While cases among humans in direct contact with infected animals are possible, this indicates that the current risk to the public remains low.

Spread of symptoms among the Michigan herd also indicates that HPAI transmission between cattle cannot be ruled out; USDA and partners continue to monitor this closely and have advised veterinarians and producers to practice good biosecurity, test animals before necessary movements, minimize animal movements, and isolate sick cattle from the herd. Among the dairies whose herds are exhibiting symptoms, the affected animals have recovered after isolation with little to no associated mortality reported..."

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/news/agency-announcements/usda-fda-cdc-share-update-h...

DSHS Reports First Human Case of Avian Influenza in Texas
Texas Department of State Health Services | April 1, 2024

...avian influenza A(H5N1) virus...person who had direct exposure to dairy cattle presumed to be infected with avian influenza.

The patient, who experienced eye inflammation as their only symptom...is being treated with the antiviral drug oseltamivir. The case does not change the risk for the general public, which remains low.

According to the CDC, this is the second human case of H5N1 flu in the United States and the first linked to an exposure to cattle. In March, the Texas Animal Health Commission announced the first cases of avian influenza A(H5N1) in dairy cattle in the Texas Panhandle. DSHS (Texas Department of State Health Services) is working with TAHC (Texas Animal Health Commission), CDC (Center for Disease Control & Prevention) and other state and federal health agencies to investigate the human and animal cases and understand how the virus is spreading in order to protect livestock and people who work with it...

https://www.dshs.texas.gov/news-alerts/dshs-reports-first-human-case-avian-influ...

Tests confirm avian flu on New Mexico dairy farm; probe finds cats positive
Lisa Schnirring | April 2, 2024

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service yesterday announced that tests have now confirmed highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in a New Mexico dairy herd and that the virus has now been confirmed in five more Texas dairy herds.

...The Texas Animal Health Commission...has received lab confirmation of HPAI for three cats.

Wild birds on affected farms had earlier tested positive for H5N1, and evidence is growing that the virus may be spreading cow to cow. Investigations are still underway to sort out how the virus is spreading on farms, which includes identifying the extent of virus circulation in other animals or wildlife.

Cats are among the mammals previously known be contract H5N1, with infections reported in the United States, Poland, and South Korea.

...Louise Moncla, PhD, assistant professor of pathobiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine...said sequences from the dairy cows nest with those from wild bird samples collected from Texas about the same time. However, the goat samples from Minnesota are most similar to a pheasant sequence from Colorado.

Moncla said none of the PB2 sequences have known adaptive markers {markers for transmission to humans?}

The cases are unusual, because influenza A had never been reported in ruminants before, she said...

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/avian-influenza-bird-flu/tests-confirm-avian-flu-new-...

Gerald Evans @skepticalIDdoc | 5:12 PM · Apr 3, 2024:
Prof @QueensuDOM | Infect Dis Doc | EIC of JAMMI_Journal | Affiliate Scientist @ICESOntario

Well, crap! That's not what I wanted to hear.

Quote
Brian Wasik @BrianRWasik · 19h
Human H5N1 case in Texas sequence is live.
Matches other Texas sequences... plus PB2 E627K.

Technical Update: Summary Analysis of Genetic Sequences of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Viruses in Texas.
CDC |2 April 2024

This is a technical summary of an analysis of the genomic sequences of viruses associated with an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1) viruses in Texas. This analysis supports the conclusion that the overall risk to the general public associated with the ongoing HPAI A(H5N1) outbreak has not changed and remains low at this time....

The genome for the human isolate had one change (PB2 E627K) that is known to be associated with viral adaptation to mammalian hosts, and which has been detected before in people and other mammals infected with HPAI A(H5N1) virus and other avian influenza subtypes (e.g., H7N9), but with no evidence of onward spread among people...

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/spotlights/2023-2024/h5n1-analysis-texas.htm

Health agencies brief Congress on avian flu
David Lim | 04/02/2024

...Dairy safety, prices: The USDA said on the call that high loads of the virus are being detected in milk and that it is suspected that cow-to-cow transmission may be occurring in milking facilities.

Don Prater, acting director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, confirmed the agency does not have concerns about the safety and availability of pasteurized milk products nationwide because the pasteurization process inactivates bacteria and viruses.

“We do not expect a significant impact on the price of milk and other dairy products,” Prater said on the call...

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/04/02/congress/hill-briefed-on-avian-...
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BNO News @BNOFeed | 11:07 AM · Apr 3, 2024:
Dairy cows in Ohio have tested positive for H5N1 bird flu, making it the 6th state to report cases.
The dairy operation received cows from a Texas dairy where bird flu was later confirmed.

Marketing ploy, not evidence-based, I hope CDC does not go along. Stronger argument to rename COVID 19' s latest variants as new virus!

AABP Decides to Reference Cattle Disease as Bovine Influenza A Virus (BIAV)
Rhonda Brooks | April 8, 2024
https://www.bovinevetonline.com/news/industry/aabp-decides-reference-cattle-dise...

Ground-up chicken waste fed to cattle may be behind bird flu outbreak in US cows
Maeve Cullinan and Sarah Newey | 9 April 2024

Experts warn that lax regulations could also see the virus spread to US pig farms, with serious consequences for human health

Fears are growing that the H5N1 outbreak among cattle in the United States could have been caused by contaminated animal feed.

In contrast to Britain and Europe*, American farmers are still allowed to feed cattle and other farm animals ground-up waste from other animals including birds.

...Although the presence of H5N1 in US cattle herds increases the risk of the virus getting into humans via farm workers, it is the spread of the virus to pig farms that presents the bigger threat.

This is because pigs have receptors on some cells that are similar to humans, making it much more likely that the virus could mutate and jump to humans if pig farms become infected.

So far, the virus hasn’t shown any signs of worrying mutation, however.

“Infection of H5N1 in pigs is of particular concern – they are highly susceptible to human influenza virus strains so could act as mixing vessels for avian and human viruses to mix and generate viruses that can more efficiently infect humans,” said Dr Tom Peacock.

Poultry litter is not only cheaper than other food sources like soy and grains but is also more calorie-dense, meaning farmers can bulk up their herds much more quickly.

...There are several other theories on how the H5N1-infected cattle – so far identified in Texas, Idaho, Kansas, Ohio, New Mexico, and Michigan – contracted the virus.

...It is also unclear if the virus is spreading from animal to animal

...“The BSE scandal {scrapie infected sheep fed to cattle, which later developed BSE / "Mad Cow Disease"} showed us the reality of what happens when biosecurity is not a priority, and showed us that it really does need to be prioritised – which is not always the case, because of the economics involved,” {said Dr Brian Ferguson, Professor of Infectious Diseases at the University of Cambridge}...

Despite large-scale culling in poultry flocks during outbreaks to limit spread, it seems a similar approach will not be taken for cattle.

The CDC has advised farmers with affected herds to dispose of milk produced by infected cattle, although it is thought that the pasteurisation process also destroys the virus – meaning the risk to humans consuming animal products remains low...

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/chicken-waste-fed-...

* Canada prohibits feeding of poultry manure to cattle and other livestock species. https://inspection.canada.ca/animal-health/livestock-feeds/regulatory-guidance/r...
US beef can be imported into Canada. https://inspection.canada.ca/importing-food-plants-or-animals/food-imports/food-...

Ag commissioner says chickens destroyed to prevent bird flu spread being replaced
Erin Davis Texas | Apr. 11, 2024

...last month after thousands of livestock were killed in historic wildfires...Bird flu struck about 40% of dairy cows in the Panhandle, where 82% of the state’s milk is produced

Infected cows have stopped producing milk...Darren Turley with the Association of Dairymen...says infected cows receive probiotics and electrolytes, but once a cow is no longer infected, it doesn’t always immediately resume milk production..If we have a cow that's not pregnant, and not giving any milk, it's very, very hard for us to make that work to keep that animal to pay for that animal”...

Experts say farmers should take certain biosecurity measures to protect their livestock from future cases. “Clean and disinfect those trucks coming on to your place. And the workers, too. If you have coveralls on at one dairy and that you’re not taking to other dairies, that would be of significant concern. And then if you’re a worker and dealing with sick cattle that they’re using personal protective equipment to ensure their safety as well,” said Dr. Brian Bohl, TAHC {Texas Animal Health Commission} director of field operations.

Also in West Texas, more 1 million chickens were killed to prevent bird flu from spreading. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller says...“We can have a new chicken hatched in 28 days. It doesn’t take that long. And that hen will be producing in less than six months from now. So once we get the birds disposed of, the house cleaned up, it'll be ready to restock and be back in business, you know, three to five months,” said Miller.

Miller says dairy and egg prices aren’t expected to increase and that the quality of the products is the same. “We pasteurized most of the milk,” he said. “The only way you could get it is if you're drinking raw milk or unpasteurized dairy products. So if you want to be on the safe side, you might hold off on that for a while.”

One human contracted bird flu and experienced symptoms similar to pink eye. Experts say others aren’t at risk of being infected.

https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/south-texas-el-paso/news/2024/04/11/texas-bird-...

Reportedly some cows lose milk after infection--too soon to know whether milk production resumes after new pregnancy? (HPAI may not kill cattle directly, but potentially very expensive in lost production & markets. God forbid it spreads to pigs, which more likely to be breeding ground for new variants, possibly more transmissible to humans.) Amazing that authorities not requiring instate quarantine of infected cattle? Are cattle still being fed with poultry meal? Unpasteurized local poultry meal? (Pasteurization may kill viruses, though not necessarily prions as with UK's BCE "Mad Cow Disease" outbreak.)

Bird flu spreads to 3 more Michigan commercial dairy farms
Rose White | Apr. 12, 2024

...The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development announced Friday, April 12 the bird flu was detected in three commercial farms in Ionia, Isabella and Ottawa counties. This brings the total number of infected Michigan dairy herds to four after the flu was confirmed at a Montcalm County farm in late March.

...State Veterinarian Dr. Nora Wineland estimated most of the infected Michigan farms have herds of 500 or more animals and one was “a little smaller.”

...An egg farm in Ionia County was also struck by the virus two weeks ago – impacting 4 million birds, federal data shows.

...Michigan traced the infected Montcalm County herd back to Texas, but officials are still working to figure out how it spread to three more dairy farms and the state’s largest egg producer.

...In Michigan, more than 4 million birds at five commercial farms and 25 backyard flocks have been killed because of the virus.

Infected cattle do not need to be depopulated and will recover within seven to 10 days.

“The animals are not quarantined. We ask the herd to restrict movements and only move animals that are absolutely necessary to be moved,” Wineland said.

Michigan is asking farms to tighten their biosecurity measures because the avian flu can spread easily through wild birds or infected poultry, equipment, feed and on the clothing and shoes of farmers.

Farms should disinfect equipment, limit non-essential visitors, provide clean clothing to employees and monitor the health of animals daily. Employees should also wash their hands frequently...

https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2024/04/bird-flu-spreads-to-3-more-michiga...

Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD @PeterHotez | 7:20 AM · Apr 14, 2024:
Vaccine Scientist-Author-Combat Antiscience @bcmhouston
Professor Pediatrics Molecular Virology, @bcm_tropmed Dean, TexasChildrens Chair in Tropical Pediatrics

2/n in parallel {our TexasChildrens Center for Vaccine Development advancing a new therapeutic vaccine, expected to begin phase 1 clinical testing in Mexico soon} our National School of Tropical Medicine @BCM_TropMed scientists are finding evidence of significant Chagas* transmission in Texas, increasing from climate change, persistent poverty. The Republic of Texas = disease-endemic country for multiple tropical infections

Map T. cruzi in TX 2013-2022
https://twitter.com/PeterHotez/status/1779469873871011904/photo/1
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* Chagas disease is a parasitic infection transmitted by insects in Latin America. Learn about the disease stages, risk factors, diagnosis, treatment, and how to prevent it from the CDC... Chagas disease has an acute and a chronic phase. If untreated, infection is lifelong...
https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/chagas/index.html

The dairy industry really, really doesn’t want you to say “bird flu in cows"
Marina Bolotnikova | Apr 16, 2024

...animal agriculture is one of the top drivers of zoonotic diseases — and growing global demand for meat, dairy, and eggs may be putting us at ever-greater risk of new outbreaks.

...the “infectious disease trap,” a concept coined in a 2022 paper by New York University environmental scientist Matthew Hayek.

Farming animals for food requires lots of land — much more land than it would take to grow an equivalent amount of plant-based foods. More than a third of the planet’s habitable land is devoted to animal agriculture alone, making it the world’s leading cause of deforestation as forests are cleared for farms. That in turn leads to more human and farm animal encounters with wild animals, a major source of new zoonotic diseases.

Animal agriculture’s land use can be shrunk through intensification — densely packing animals into factory farms — which limits deforestation and helps reduce meat’s climate footprint.

But such operations are terrible for animal welfare, and they exacerbate zoonotic disease risk in other ways, allowing viruses to rapidly tear through factory farms filled with thousands of stressed, genetically identical animals.

That’s exactly what’s been happening at chicken and turkey farms across the US over the last two years — and to prevent further spread, farmers have killed more than 85 million poultry birds on farms hit with bird flu since 2022, often using a grisly method that kills them via heatstroke. Our current food system is a recipe for brewing more virulent disease strains and, many experts fear, it’s a ticking time bomb for the next pandemic.

As long as global meat production expands, Hayek’s model explains, both low-density and factory farm-style animal agriculture trap us with rising disease risk...

...Long-distance shipment (is) a hallmark of intensive animal agriculture systems described in the infectious disease trap model, allowing diseases to jump to new regions...18 states have restricted cow imports from (the 8) states where dairy cows have tested positive for bird flu...

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/24128700/bird-fludairy-meat-industry-h5n1-cow...

Wow--first indication I've seen that cows infected with avian flu (NC) are asymptomatic. Never again can American authorities chide China for early response to COVID in a food facility!

Scientists Fault Federal Response to Bird Flu Outbreaks on Dairy Farms
Apoorva Mandavilli & Emily Anthes | 4/192024

Officials have shared little information, saying the outbreak was limited. But asymptomatic cows in North Carolina have changed the assessment...

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/19/health/bird-flu-usda-cattle.html

NEW: USDA Confirms Cow-to-Cow Transmission a Factor in Avian Flu Spread
Reuters April 19, 2024

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said this week that cow-to-cow transmission is a factor in the spread of avian flu in dairy herds, but it still does not know exactly how the virus is being moved around.

...Wild migratory birds are believed to be the original source of the virus. But the USDA said its investigation into cow infections "includes some cases where the virus spread was associated with cattle movements between herds." There is also evidence the virus spread from dairy cattle premises "back into nearby poultry premises through an unknown route," the department said.

The USDA said cows shed the virus in milk at high concentrations, so anything that comes in contact with unpasteurized milk may spread the disease. Respiratory transmission is not considered a primary way for the virus to spread in cattle, the department added.

Despite uncertainty over transmission, USDA has not imposed quarantines to restrict the movement of cattle around infected dairies, as it does with chickens and turkeys around infected poultry farms. Infected cattle appear to recover, while bird flu is usually lethal for poultry.

The USDA said it expects that minimizing cattle movement and testing those that must be shipped, along with safety and cleaning practices on farms, should avoid the need for regulatory restrictions. {!!!}

Officials reported last month that bird flu primarily affected older cows, though additional data now indicates younger cattle have been affected, the USDA said.

https://www.agweb.com/news/livestock/dairy/new-usda-confirms-cow-cow-transmissio...

SARS‑CoV‑2 (COVID-19) @COVID19_disease | 12:31 AM · Apr 19, 2024:
Coronavirus and other health-related updates. Regular updates on Outbreaks, Pathogens

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1781178785024589834.html

⚠️ BREAKING: Mysterious outbreak,Covid-like pneumonia infects 60 people in Buenos Aires of Argentina 🇦🇷

Doctors are on high alert over a mystery flu-like illness with similarities to Covid-19 that has people critically ill in Argentina.

International public health surveillance system, ProMed, issued an alert on April 17 after 60 cases of the unknown sickness were reported in Buenos Aires.

This is the same database that first alerted authorities to Covid-19 back in late 2019.

The alert, submitted anonymously "via an individual known to ProMed", stated: "In the past 30 days, there appears to have been an increase in severe atypical pneumonia requiring critical care in Buenos Aires.

The affected individuals are mostly young people without major risk factors."

While no official statements have been made by Argentinian officials, it's reported that patients have needed mechanical ventilation to help them breathe.

Over a third of those affected showed symptoms of psittacosis*, a disease caused by a type of chlamydia found in birds. However, many had no apparent history of contact with birds, the alert noted.
SARS‑CoV‑2 (COVID-19)

Full article can be found below:

Mystery flu 'similar to Covid' leaves dozens critically ill with doctors on high alert
Tom McGhie & Rom Preston-Ellis | 18 Apr 2024
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/health/mystery-flu-similar-covid-leaves-32619076
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* Zhenjie Zhang et al. 2022. Human-to-human transmission of Chlamydia psittaci in China, 2020: an epidemiological and aetiological investigation. Volume 3, ISSUE 7, e512-e520, July 2022.
Open Access. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S2666-5247(22)00064-7 https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanmic/article/PIIS2666-5247(22)00064-7/fullt...

"...Our study data might represent the first documented report of human-to-human transmission of C psittaci in China. Therefore, C psittaci has the potential to evolve human-to-human transmission via various routes..."
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Marco Serale @vehemens | 4:43 AM · Apr 19, 2024:
laboratory Rat 💉🐁, CBRNe analyst, ☠️ Epidemic Intelligence Officer .🏨

Informally, 20 of the 60 cases collected presented evidence of psittacosis with 10 positive by PCR.
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Argentina, back in 2022:

New mystery illness infects, kills multiple people in Argentina
September 3, 2022

Three people have died in just days and more have been infected after an outbreak of an unknown virus “similar to Covid”.

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/new-mystery-illness-inf...
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margd: not bird flu, I hope!

Bird Flu Has Made a Terrifying Leap That's Devastated Argentina's Seal Populations
Tessa Koumoundouros | 23 January 2024
https://www.sciencealert.com/bird-flu-has-made-a-terrifying-leap-thats-devastate...

Pablo I. Plaza et al, 2024. Recent Changes in Patterns of Mammal Infection with Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus Worldwide. Emerg Infect Dis. 2024 Mar; 30(3): 444–452.
doi: 10.3201/eid3003.231098 https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10902543/

Figure 1. Geographic location of mammal species affected by highly pathogenic influenza virus A(H5N1) in previous waves of infection, 2003–2019 (A), and in the current panzootic, 2020–2023 (B).
https://twitter.com/ejustin46/status/1781932106525941982/photo/1

The H5N1 Outbreak Is Not a Test Run, It's a Warning Shot
— A true public health success would be preventing the virus from further adapting to humans
Nahid Bhadelia | April 16, 2024

...A Worrying Trend of H5N1 in Mammals
This outbreak marks the first documented instance of H5N1 infection in dairy cows, highlighting a worrying trend that has been occurring over the last 2 years where the virus has moved from infecting birds to a growing range of mammals. More than 40 new mammalian species have been affected, and more than 26 countries have reported infections in mammals during the current zoonotic wave (2021-2024) compared to 10 countries prior to 2019. This represents an increase in both the geographic and host range of the virus.

The individual outbreaks have also been deadly, affecting large numbers of birds and animals. For example, last spring the virus killed over 5,000 sea lions on the coast of Peru, along with more than 100,000 birds. The year prior to that, a smaller outbreak hit New England Harbor seals, where seal-to-seal transmission was suspected. The CDC reports that nearly 86 million wild aquatic birds, commercial poultry, and backyard or hobbyist flocks in 48 states have been infected in the U.S. beginning in January 2022. The increased infections in birds have created more opportunities for spillover events -- instances where the virus jumps from a bird host to a mammal.

This dramatic increase in the number of susceptible mammalian hosts suggests the virus's ability to adapt to diverse physiologies, potentially paving the way for its eventual adaptation to humans. The more animal species and more individual animal numbers (infection burden) the virus infects, the greater the opportunity it has to undergo mutations. These mutations could potentially enable the virus to overcome the barriers that currently prevent efficient and sustained human-to-human transmission.

This is why any reports of potential mammal-to-mammal transmission raise further concern for continued adaptive evolution, as was suspected among New England seals, as well as during an outbreak on a mink farm in Spain last year. A recent Science article reports that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) suspects that the current transmission between dairy cows is occurring through contaminated milking equipment.

H5N1 Cases in Humans To Date
The Importance of Heightened Infection Control
Toward a Better Understanding of the Risks

https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/second-opinions/109701

USDA Publishes H5N1 Influenza A Virus Genetic Sequences on publicly available site
Last Modified: April 21, 2024

Today, the APHIS National Veterinary Services Laboratories made available 239 genetic sequences from the U.S. H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b influenza virus recently found in samples associated with the ongoing highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak in poultry and wild birds, and the recent H5N1 event in dairy cattle. APHIS routinely publishes influenza genetic sequence data on GISAID (the Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data); however, in the interest of public transparency and ensuring the scientific community has access to this information as quickly as possible to encourage disease research and development to benefit the U.S. dairy industry, APHIS is also rapidly sharing raw sequence data to the National Institute of Health’s National Library of Medicine, National Center for Biotechnology Information. Sequences posted are from cattle, cats, chickens, skunk, racoon, grackle, blackbird, and goose. APHIS will continue making additional raw genetic sequences available on a rolling basis at Home - SRA - NCBI (nih.gov); use the search term “WGS of H5N1”.

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/avian/avian-influenza/usda-...

Is There a Vaccine for H5N1 Influenza?
— And how quickly could it be deployed should it be needed?
Jennifer Henderson | April 22, 2024

... a trio of H5N1 vaccines for humans has already been developed and approved in the U.S....While there hasn't been an outbreak among people to put them to the test, human-to-human transmission would "drive the need" for H5N1 vaccines...If infections among humans who work with animals become more common, this could be a subgroup of people to vaccinate...

...ASPR's National Pre-Pandemic Influenza Vaccine Stockpile (NPIVS) program "enables rapid response to influenza strains as they evolve," the spokesperson said, adding that the program "works closely with industry partners to make and test updated vaccines that match new strains of influenza viruses with pandemic potential as they emerge, while at the same time, supporting manufacturing capacity to allow for large-scale vaccine production if needed."

NPIVS is "continually generating antigens that are matched to virus strains of interest, and we have two antigens that are well-matched to the currently circulating strain of H5N1," the spokesperson added. "Hundreds of thousands of doses could be deployed within weeks pending regulatory action, and over 100 million doses could be deployed in the coming months."

ASPR's industry partners include CSL Seqirus, GSK, and Sanofi, which have H5N1 vaccines licensed for use in the U.S....

https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/features/109784

Massive amounts of H5N1 vaccine would be needed if there’s a bird flu pandemic. Can we make enough?
Helen Branswell | April 24, 2024

...The good news: The world makes a lot of flu vaccine and has been doing it for decades. Regulatory agencies have well-oiled systems to allow manufacturers to update the viruses the vaccines target without having to seek new licenses. The United States even has some H5 vaccine in a stockpile that it believes would offer protection against the version of the H5N1 virus infecting dairy cattle, though there would not be nearly enough doses for the entire country.

The bad news: The current global production capacity isn’t close to adequate to vaccinate a large portion of the world’s population in the first year of a pandemic. And batches of flu vaccine, often (though not always) produced in hen’s eggs, take months to produce...

What the need would be? (~16 billion doses)

Who’s most at risk? (elders & kids)

How much vaccine would each person need? (H5N1 is poorly immunogenic in people; it doesn’t trigger a strong immune response unless it’s administered in large amounts, or is given with a boosting compound known as an adjuvant that broadly stimulates the immune system.)

How quickly could the U.S. respond?

Would the stockpiled vaccine protect us, if H5 triggers a pandemic?

Could mRNA vaccines be a wild card?

Will lower-income countries have to wait yet again?

https://www.statnews.com/2024/04/24/h5n1-bird-flu-vaccine-preparedness/

H5N1 bird flu virus particles found in pasteurized milk but FDA says commercial milk supply appears safe
- Helen Branswell , Nicholas Florko , Megan Molteni , and Rachel Cohrs Zhang | April 23, 2024

https://www.statnews.com/2024/04/23/h5n1-bird-flu-virus-particles-in-pasteurized...
_____________________________

Remnants of the bird flu virus have been found in pasteurized milk, the FDA says
The Associated Press | April 24, 2024

...FDA officials didn't indicate how many samples they tested or where they were obtained. The agency has been evaluating milk during processing and from grocery stores...The PCR lab test the FDA used would have detected viral genetic material even after live virus was killed by pasteurization, or heat treatment

...FDA officials said...past research shows that pasteurization is "very likely" to inactivate heat-sensitive viruses like H5N1...

https://www.npr.org/2024/04/24/1246778084/bird-flu-virus-remnants-found-in-paste...

Krutika Kuppalli, MD FIDSA @KrutikaKuppalli | 6:30 AM · Apr 24, 2024 (X Twitter):
ID {infectious disease} physician. COVID-19, mpox, emerging infections, global health & pandemic preparedness and response. {WHO}

Likely more cases of #H5N1 in persons than we know and why we need to expand surveillance

Bird flu virus found in US milk supply
Sarah Newey, Global Health Security Correspondent 24 April 2024

Analysis shows that fragments of H5N1 survive pasteurisation, but experts say supplies remains safe...US vets have heard anecdotes about more workers with these and other symptoms - such as fever, cough and lethargy - who do not want to be tested...

https://telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/bird-flu-virus-found-i...
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Krutika Kuppalli, MD FIDSA @KrutikaKuppalli | 7:56 AM · Apr 24, 2024:

Remember that a disproportionate number of persons at risk for getting #H5N1 from animal exposure are farmers and migrant workers - they may be reluctant to seek care for various reasons.
Important to engage with these communities to understand barriers to care.

Thijs Kuiken @thijskuiken | 5:32 PM · Apr 24, 2024:
Professor of Comparative Pathology. Avian influenza and other emerging infectious diseases. {Rotterdam}

New and stricter rules in the USA as of 29 April 2024 for:
(1) mandatory testing for interstate movement of dairy cattle for highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1, and
(2) mandatory reporting in any livestock of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1.
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Krutika Kuppalli, MD FIDSA | @KrutikaKuppalli | 5:44 PM · Apr 24, 2024:
ID physician. COVID-19, mpox,emerging infections, global health & pandemic preparedness and response. {WHO}

Glad the @USDA is implementing measures for #H5N1

Would be helpful to understand more about testing plans related to interstate movement
- how soon before movement will tests occur
- what kind of tests
- will all cattle be tested
- plans to expand testing to other animals
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FluTrackers.com @FluTrackers | 1:11 PM · Apr 24, 2024:
Est. 2006- We are a 501(c)(3)non profit charity of volunteers from many countries who document disease & human rights.

USDA - Federal Order Requiring Testing for and Reporting of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in Livestock - April 24, 2024 https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/the-pandemic-discussion-forum/987828-discuss...
h/t Pathfinder #H5N1

Article: "Michael Watson, administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, says every lactating dairy cow must be tested before moving across state lines." https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/united-states/h5n1-tracking-af/987593-us-dai... h/t Commonground
(but is it enough testing?)

USDA: "Additionally, APHIS’ National
Veterinary Services Laboratories found HPAI in a lung tissue sample from an asymptomatic cull dairy
cow that originated from an affected herd and which did not enter the food supply." https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/the-pandemic-discussion-forum/987828-discuss... h/t Treyfish, Pathfinder

>35 margd: bird flu vaccine for people

God forbid human-to-human transmission evolves and a human pandemic ensues, as there will be some delay in availability of vaccines. In addition to isolation, ventilation/filtration, masks, etc., nasal swabbing of neomycin (OTC brand Neosporin) may provide some protection by inducing innate immunity in the nose(?):

Tianyang Mao et al. 2024. Intranasal neomycin evokes broad-spectrum antiviral immunity in the upper respiratory tract. PNAS, April 22, 2024. 121 (18) e2319566121 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2319566121 https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2319566121

To me, latest USDA testing/quarantine requirements do not sound adequate to contain bovine spread of H5N1 bird flu...maybe helpful to track it?

Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @HelenBranswell | 2:45 PM · Apr 24, 2024:
I cover infectious diseases @statnews . 2020 Polk winner. Nieman '11.

Interesting tidbits from a press conf today on #H5N1 #birdflu by US agencies
—NIAID-funded researchers found commercial milk that was PCR-pos for H5, but could not grow live virus from it. (Good)
—USDA & CDC admitted some farmers won't let them test.
--------------------------------------------

USDA orders H5N1 testing of some dairy cows to limit spread of bird flu
Helen Branswell | April 24, 2024

The U.S. Department of Agriculture moved to try to limit spread of the H5N1 bird flu virus among dairy cattle on Wednesday, issuing a federal order that will require an animal to test negative for the virus before it can be moved across state lines. It also requires laboratories and state veterinarians to report to the USDA any animals that have tested positive for H5N1 or any other influenza A virus.

In addition, farms that move cattle across state lines and have animals that test positive for H5N1 or any influenza A virus will be required to open their books to investigators, so they can trace movement of cattle from infected herds.

“A negative test is required before they can move. If they end up testing positive, they will have a 30-day waiting period before they could move, and they’d have to be tested again,” Mike Watson, administrator for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, told a news conference featuring senior officials from the USDA, the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

https://www.statnews.com/2024/04/24/h5n1-bird-flu-usda-orders-dairy-cow-testing/

STAT @statnews | 3:08 PM · Apr 25, 2024:
Researchers collected 150 commercial milk products from around the Midwest, and genetic testing found H5N1 viral RNA in 58 samples.

Andrew Bowman, a veterinary epidemiologist at Ohio State University, ... and a graduate student went on a road trip: They collected 150 commercial milk products from around the Midwest, representing dairy processing plants in 10 different states, including some where herds have tested positive for H5N1. Genetic testing found viral RNA in 58 {of the 150 samples}...

The researchers expect additional lab studies currently underway to show that those samples don’t contain live virus with the capability to cause human infections, meaning that the risk of pasteurized milk to consumer health is still very low. But the prevalence of viral genetic material in the products they sampled suggest that the H5N1 outbreak is likely far more widespread in dairy cows than official counts indicate. So far, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has reported 33 herds in eight states have tested positive for H5N1...

https://www.statnews.com/2024/04/25/h5n1-bird-flu-cows-outbreak-likely-widesprea...

What's New {US milks sampled for avian flu}
US FDA

April 25, 2024
Today, the FDA received some initial results from its nationally representative commercial milk sampling study. The agency continues to analyze this information; however, the initial results show about 1 in 5 of the retail samples tested are quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)-positive for HPAI {Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza}viral fragments, with a greater proportion of positive results coming from milk in areas with infected herds...

April 26, 2024
The FDA has received additional results from an initial limited set of geographically targeted samples as part of its national commercial milk sampling study underway in coordination with USDA. The FDA continues to analyze this information; however, preliminary results of egg inoculation tests on quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)-positive retail milk samples show that pasteurization is effective in inactivating HPAI...

This additional testing did not detect any live, infectious virus. These results reaffirm our assessment that the commercial milk supply is safe.

In addition, several samples of retail powdered infant formula were tested, as well as powdered milk products marketed as toddler formula. All qPCR results of formula testing were negative, indicating no detection of viral fragments or virus in powdered formula products.

The FDA is further assessing retail samples from its study of 297 samples of retail dairy products from 38 states. All samples with a PCR positive result are going through egg inoculation tests, a gold-standard for determining if infectious virus is present...

https://www.fda.gov/food/alerts-advisories-safety-information/updates-highly-pat...
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US's Eric Feigl-Ding, a self-descibed whistleblower was one of the first to recognize risks of COVID. He tends to be precautionary, which can be an esp good thing when there are many unknowns:

Eric Feigl-Ding @DrEricDing | 5:04 AM · Apr 27, 2024 (X Twitter):
Epidemiologist & health economist. Whistleblower. Faculty @NECSI (New England Complex Systems Institute). Fmr 16 years Harvard...

UPDATE—Very preliminary partial results from FDA tests show PCR positive pasteurized milk so far are not active virus—though more testing of 297 positive retail milk🥛 samples are needed and still pending. ➡️HOWEVER, we expected most to be negative, but DOSE OF VIRUS LOAD MATTERS. Esteemed virologist @EckerleIsabella
says we don’t know many things still:

📌What is the UPPER LIMIT of pasteurization effectiveness against milk with higher viral loads?
📌Viral loads of milk which they can GUARANTEE full inactivation? (In the past, pasteurization worked on majority of viruses, but a minority of live virus slipped thru pasteurization. The current lab results could just be the lucky majority)
📌Given human foods and millions/billions of gallons of milk consumption, “probably good” is not good enough.

The @US_FDA and @USDA @USDAFoodSafety still have to prove safety for all levels of the virus in milk. Still awaiting such data.
https://fda.gov/food/alerts-advisories-safety-information/updates-highly-pathoge...

Text FDA 26 April 2024 (https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1784146591432986738/photo/1)
Tweets Isabella Eckerle* (https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1784146591432986738/photo/2)

I’m sticking by ULTRA PASTEURIZED for now...heated to 280 degrees F, compared to just 161 F for conventional pasteurized milk. Like @RickABright**, I’m pausing regular pasteurized milk. And definitely no raw milk... {Marg: It will say on carton if milk is ultrapasteurized, e.g., Lactaid,a milk for the lactose intolerant. Plant milk may be an alternative for some.}

* Isabella Eckerle is a German virologist who is the co-Head of the Centre for Emerging Viral Diseases at the Geneva University Hospitals and the University of Geneva. Her research considers infectious diseases and the development of cell lines that allow a better understanding of their epidemiology.(Wikipedia)

** Rick Arthur Bright is an American immunologist, vaccine researcher, and public health official. He was the director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) from 2016 to 2020. In May 2020, he filed a whistleblower complaint, alleging that the Trump administration ignored his early warnings about the COVID-19 pandemic and illegally retaliated against him by ousting him from his role and demoting him to a position at the National Institutes of Health. On October 6, 2020, Bright resigned from the government. On November 9 he was named a member of President-elect Joe Biden's coronavirus advisory board. (Wikipedia)

4 more cats test positive for H5N1 bird flu in the U.S.
BNO News | April 26, 2024

Four more cats have tested positive for H5N1 bird flu in connection with a growing outbreak in dairy cows in the United States, ... raising the number of cases in the current outbreak to seven. {NM, OH, TX}

Sonja Olsen, the Associate Director of Preparedness and Response at CDC’s Influenza Division...“The reports we heard were of cats having neurologic symptoms, rapid decline, and death”

...Cats are known to be vulnerable to this new strain of H5N1 bird flu. The first case in a cat with this variant was reported near a duck farm in southern France in December 2022, causing it to be euthanized.

Months later, in 2023, nearly 40 cats died at two animal shelters in South Korea after eating contaminated cat food. And in Poland, more than a dozen cats died in an outbreak presumably caused by contaminated raw meat.

In the United States, at least 20 cats have been infected with H5N1 bird flu, including the 7 cases reported this month. The other 13 happened last year in connection with infected poultry or wild birds.

https://bnonews.com/index.php/2024/04/4-more-cats-test-positive-for-h5n1-bird-fl...

Isabella Eckerle @EckerleIsabella | 2:48 AM · Apr 27, 2024;
Prof at Geneva Centre for Emerging Viral Diseases - Virologist, MD, DTM&H. Emerging viruses, bats & birds...

Is this H5N1? Seasonal influenza should be over by now.

CoronaHeadsUp @CoronaHeadsUp | 4:11 PM · Apr 25, 2024
The most important pandemic stories from around the globe. Proudly suppressed and deamplified by Twitter since 2020.

Texas: Influenza A in Wastewater
River Road, Amarillo, currently seeing a spike.

WastewaterSCAN Dashboard
https://data.wastewaterscan.org/tracker/?charts=CqQBEAAgAUgAUgYxNGVmMDdSBjcyYTdi...

Graph Flu A feb-Apr 2024 waste water TX
https://twitter.com/CoronaHeadsUp/status/1783944446364602427/photo/1

River Road, Amarillo wastewater, 26th April 2024
Graph quantity nucleic acids Amarillo Tx as of 26 April 2024
https://twitter.com/CoronaHeadsUp/status/1783944446364602427/photo/1

Start Mass Testing Dairy Workers for Bird Flu
F.D. Flam | April 26, 2024

H5N1 has spread stealthily among cows. Could it also be spreading silently in humans?

Given how devastating another global pandemic would be, the US should start mass testing of dairy workers for the bird flu virus that’s spreading fast through cows. If necessary, either the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the US Department of Agriculture should pay people to get tested. The USDA’s recent call to test more cows isn’t going far enough...

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-04-26/how-many-people-have-bird-...

Eric Feigl-Ding @DrEricDing | 5:04 PM · Apr 27, 2024 {X}:

⚠️CDC WARNING FOR ALL VETERINARIANS, POULTRY, DAIRY & CATTLE FARMWORKERS, SLAUGHTERHOUSE WORKERS—New CDC guidelines now released to use PPE for high risk bird flu exposure occupations (all recommended):

📌N95 respirators
📌Goggles 🥽 or face shield 🛡️
📌Coveralls or fluid-resistant aprons
📌Head covering
📌Rubber boots with sealed seams
📌Gloves

Furthermore:
📍Designated areas for changing PPEs
📍Do not eat, drink, chew gum, chew tobacco, smoke, vape, or use the bathroom while wearing above PPE
📍Shower after work shift
📍(see full list for more details).

Glad the @CDCgov is taking this seriously. You should too. And please don’t drink raw milk 🥛! #AvianFlu #BirdFlu #H5N1

Text excerpts
https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1784327670928421111/photo/1
https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1784327670928421111/photo/2
https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1784327670928421111/photo/3
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Updated Interim Recommendations for Worker Protection and Use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to Reduce Exposure to Novel Influenza A Viruses Associated with Disease in Humans
US CDC | Updated April 26, 2024

Summary of changes
This updated guidance identifies select occupational groups that may be at increased risk of exposure to novel influenza A viruses. Specific recommendations for these groups may be updated as CDC learns more during this evolving situation.
Persons in these occupational groups should consult with their supervisor or their employer’s worker safety team to determine how best to apply these recommendations...

https://cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/h5/worker-protection-ppe.htm

JWeiland @JPWeiland | 3:35 PM · Apr 27, 2024 {X}:

This study from 2006 on thermal stability of H5N1 in bird meat suggests a more than 11 log reduction at 70C in less than 15 seconds. Granted the medium is different, but that's a VERY substantial reduction...

Table 5 (https://twitter.com/JPWeiland/status/1784305393478361356/photo/1)
Text front page ( https://twitter.com/JPWeiland/status/1784305393478361356/photo/2 )
------------------------------------------------

margd: Newcastle Disease virus can cause mass mortality in farmed chickens: guts are a hemorrhaged mess if if recall a long ago lab correctly... Good news if 5 seconds at 70C kills avian flu, but dairy needs to be tested. (Fat can shield avian virus from heat somewhat?)

Colleen Thomas et al. 2024. Thermal Inactivation of Avian Influenza and Newcastle Disease Viruses in Chicken Meat. Journal of Food Protection, Volume 71, Issue 6, 1 June 2008, Pages 1214-1222.
https://doi.org/10.4315/0362-028X-71.6.1214 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0362028X22065681

Abstract
...This study presents thermal inactivation data for two viruses of high pathogenicity in chickens (AIV strain A/chicken/Pennsylvania/1370/1983 and NDV strain APMV-1/chicken/California/S0212676/2002) and two viruses of low pathogenicity in chickens (AIV strain A/chicken/Texas/298313/2004 and NDV strain APMV-1/chicken/Northern Ireland/Ulster/1967). Under the conditions of the assay, high-pathogenicity AIV was inactivated more slowly in meat from naturally infected chickens than in artificially infected chicken meat with a similar virus titer. In contrast, high-pathogenicity NDV was inactivated similarly in naturally and artificially infected meat. Linear regression models predicted that the current U.S. Department of Agriculture–Food Safety and Inspection Service time-temperature guidelines for cooking chicken meat to achieve a 7-log reduction of Salmonella also would effectively inactivate the AIV and NDV strains tested. Experimentally, the AIV and NDV strains used in this study (and the previously studied H5N1 high-pathogenicity AIV strain A/chicken/Korea/ES/2003) were effectively inactivated in chicken meat held at 70 or 73.9°C for less than 1 s.

Michael Mina @michaelmina_lab | 3:21 PM · Apr 27, 2024:
Physician-Scientist, MD,PhD. Immunology, Epidemiology, Infectious disease, Autoimmunity, Biotech, Diagnostics, Math. CSO, CMO. Past: Harvard Faculty.

One of the best threads yet on the single human H5N1 case amidst a sea of cattle cases. By @MichaelWorobey

In Summary: evidence is pointing toward a single jump from bird to cow

The human infection was one branch off that jump. The majority of current H5N1 infections in cows are another branch

The virus lineage that infected the human *may* have not been very fit and “died out” while the viruses causing all the cases in cows now outcompeted that other lineage and is persisting.
-----------------------------------------

Quote
Michael Worobey @MichaelWorobey · Apr 26
Viruses. Pandemics. Professor and Head of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona.

We need to talk about that human case of H5N1 in Texas...

Here is a bootstrapped (NJ) tree showing how the closest relative of H5N1 sampled in cattle is a virus the infected an male individual who reportedly worked on a farm with cattle (dairy, I believe):
Phylogenetic (evolutionary) tree H5N1 (https://twitter.com/MichaelWorobey/status/1783992353595990498/photo/1)

I used all-8-genome-segment concatenated sequences for this analysis, with the help of @evogytis, for this, for maximum signal. Bootstrap values show strong support for the (human + cattle) grouping.

@PeacockFlu was the first person I know of who homed in on how interesting this human's virus was, in the context of the cattle H5N1 outbreak, in this piece by @HelenBranswell:

Genetic analysis reveals H5N1 flu virus outbreak in cows likely started earlier than thought
Helen Branswell April 23, 2024
https://www.statnews.com/2024/04/23/h5n1-bird-flu-genetic-analysis/

(Start text from Helen's article:)
“If you look at all the cattle sequences together, they all cluster, as do the cats and the chickens and the grackles and stuff.”
“The thing that doesn’t fit that picture is the human case,”
he said.''
The genetic sequence from the human case, which occurred on an unidentified farm in Texas, is sufficiently different from the cattle sequences that it can’t be easily linked to them, he said.
The differences suggest that the individual was either infected in a separate event — maybe not via a cow, but through contact with infected wild birds — or that there might have been another line of viruses in cattle early on and it has since died out.
“It’s basically too distant a cousin to be connected directly to this outbreak, which either means it’s a second spillover or there was an early bifurcation of the cattle sequences,” Peacock said.
(End text from Helen's article:)

We now know that this individual was a dairy farm worker who worked in a geographical area with cattle with symptoms consistent with H5N1...but it appears that no samples were collected (!) from cattle from the farm where he worked.

Rosemary Sifford, USDA's chief veterinarian, said in a briefing yesterday:
"The fact that the human who was sampled has a sequence that appears to be a predecessor to those that we have found in cattle -- our interpretation at this point "is that that means likely that person became infected through a herd that we did not receive any samples from for testing...There were herds that had clinical signs in that geographic area before we had the first herd that we had positive H5N1 test results in. That, we think, is the strongest hypothesis at this time with regard to the infection for that person. We collaborate closely with the CDC and local public health for the human testing. We are not directly involved with that."

Quick detour into evolutionary biology:
It is close, but not quite right, to call a virus sampled in late March, from a human likely infected by a cattle virus, a "predecessor" to those we have found in cattle at around the same time point

My colleagues and I preliminarily estimate that the viruses sampled to date, and pictured in the phylogenetic (evolutionary) tree at the top of this thread, had a common ancestor (in cattle) that existed in December or January. The human virus in the Texas farm worker was not sampled until March. So it can't be a predecessor.

...I believe the combined evidence (especially that this person likely became infected from cattle) points strongly in favour of the hypothesis that the human virus and the current sample of cattle virus are descendants of a single jump of H5N1 from birds into cattle.
Phylogenetic (evolutionary) tree (https://twitter.com/MichaelWorobey/status/1783992597809394068/photo/1)

Cats, chickens, blackbirds and grackles on farms with sick cattle are all getting infected by spillback. This human is no different, likely.
I suspect that we will find, as the number of sequenced cattle viruses grows, ones on the same branch of the tree that led to this human.

The interesting thing is that we can, and are, dissecting the mutations represented by the asterisks on the H5N1 tree. We konw what they are, several are indeed likely to provide adaptive benefits to the viruses in mammals.

And I suspect the ones on the branch that led to the human case in Texas just can't compete with the "main" cattle H5N1 lineage.
The main bovine lineage may be, to innumerable humans, what the minor lineage is to the few chimps who have managed to survive to present.

If correct, this drives the cattle H5N1 lineage even further back than we had thought, though we may not see the date of the bird to cattle cross-species transmission event change much.

It would be good if samples, perhaps environmental samples, could be collected from that farm to directly test these hypotheses.

One last thing - this suggests, but does not prove, that the common ancestor of both the main, and putative minor, bovine H5N1 lineages existed in Texas.

Please check at @LouiseHMoncla's analysis on the relevant mutations, on the @nextstrain platform!
Quote
Louise Moncla @LouiseHMoncla · Apr 25
(Assistant Professor of Pathobiology @pennvet
using trees to study RNA virus evolution and transmission. viruses, sequencing, phylogenetics, pop gen.)
The human case in Texas still clusters outgrouped to the entire cattle cluster, indicating that they were likely infected prior to the sampled infection from the cattle represented in this tree. This is true across the entire genome.

But looping back to @PeacockFlu 's thoughts in the @statnews article, it is still possible that this does represent an independent jump from the avian reservoir into cattle.

@influenzal notes that there are no mammalian-adaptive substitutions in common between the viruses that have been sampled in cows and the virus in the Texas patient.

And more complex scenarios exist. Joel Wertheim and I have noticed that the Texas human H5N1 virus might be a reassortant. Its HA, PB2, and NP all appear to sit basal to the current sample of cattle H5N1, while the other 5 segments appear to sit within the cattle clade...

>48 margd: contd.

Bird flu virus has been spreading in US cows for months, RNA reveals
Smriti Mallapaty | 27 April 2024

Genomic analysis suggests that the outbreak probably began in December or January, but a shortage of data is hampering efforts to pin down the source...

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01256-5
-----------------------------------------

Michael Worobey (U AZ) @MichaelWorobey | 4:24 PM · Apr 26, 2024:

Important update on metadata of H5N1 in cattle (and back to birds):

Thanks to the extraordinary detective skills of @flodebarre, we are pleased to be able to share this table containing locations and dates for several H5N1 cases in cattle and birds:

Table avian flu genome metadata (https://github.com/andersen-lab/avian-influenza/blob/master/metadata/SraRunTable.csv)
From github.com

There’s never a good time to drink raw milk.
But now’s a really bad time as bird flu infects cows
Helen Branswell | April 29, 2024

...“I absolutely wouldn’t go anywhere near raw milk in terms of consuming it,” said Richard Webby, an influenza virologist at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., whose laboratories have been involved in testing to see if evidence of H5N1 RNA can be found in commercially purchased milk — it can — and whether live virus can be grown from pasteurized milk containing H5N1 RNA. So far it looks like the answer to that question is no.

While the Food and Drug Administration bans the interstate sale and distribution of raw milk, rules surrounding its use in an individual state are set by the state legislature. Some ban the sale of raw milk for human consumption; others allow it under a variety of circumstances. (A state-by-state rundown is here...https://milk.procon.org/raw-milk-laws-state-by-state/)

Thijs Kuiken, a pathologist in the department of viroscience at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, who has done research on H5N1 and the damage it inflicts for about two decades,...said said his concern about the risk that infected raw milk poses is not so much that the practice might somehow help the virus to mutate in ways that would allow it to spread easily to and among people — in other words, trigger a pandemic. But he believes it would likely seriously sicken people who drink raw milk from an H5N1-infected cow. Reports of the amount of virus present in infected udders is higher than anything he’s seen in studies where he’s experimentally infected animals with H5N1 to chart the illness the virus wreaked...

Jürgen Richt, a veterinarian and director of the Center of Excellence for Emerging and Zoonotic Animal Diseases at Kansas State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, spoke with a note of disbelief in his voice about the amount of dead viruses or viral particles being found in commercial milk that tested positive for the virus. “From {results} I have seen, I wouldn’t want to drink raw milk...And I wouldn’t feed it to my cats, nor my dogs, nor my calves, if I’m on a farm.”...

https://www.statnews.com/2024/04/29/bird-flu-raw-milk-h5n1-risk-us-cattle/

Rick Bright @RickABright | 3:37 PM · Apr 29, 2024:
Practical, Innovative, Hyper-focused on saving lives. Immunologist, Virologist, Pandemic Nemesis. {DC}

🚨Hot off the Press. As suspected more than a month ago: H5 was detected at three {wastewater} plants located in a state with confirmed outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza, H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b, in dairy cattle, suggesting a large fraction of Influenza A virus inputs were H5 subtypes.

At two of the wastewater plants, industrial discharges containing animal waste, including milk byproducts, were permitted to discharge into sewers...

Preprint from Verily, @EmoryUniversity, @WastewaterSCAN, Stanford, @MarleneKWolfe et al.

Marlene K Wolfe et al. 2024. Detection of hemagglutinin H5 influenza A virus sequence in municipal wastewater solids at wastewater treatment plants with increases in influenza A in spring, 2024. MedRxiv 29 April 2024. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.04.26.24306409 https://medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.04.26.24306409v1

This article is a preprint and has not been certified by peer review

Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security @JHSPH_CHS | 5:05 PM · Apr 29, 2024 (X):

Amid the evolving #H5N1 outbreak in cattle, our Center for Outbreak and Response Innovation (CORI) team prepared an informational fact sheet.

Read it here (6p): https://centerforhealthsecurity.org/sites/default/files/2024-04/h5n1.pdf

Cats suffer H5N1 brain infections, blindness, death after drinking raw milk. Mammal-to-mammal transmission raises new concerns about the virus's ability to spread.
Beth Mole - 4/29/2024

On March 16, cows on a Texas dairy farm began showing symptoms of a mysterious illness now known to be H5N1 bird flu. Their symptoms were nondescript, but their milk production dramatically dropped and turned thick and creamy yellow. The NEXT DAY, cats on the farm that had consumed some of the raw milk from the sick cows also became ill. While the cows would go on to largely recover, the cats weren't so lucky. They developed depressed mental states, stiff body movements, loss of coordination, circling, copious discharge from their eyes and noses, and blindness. By March 20, OVER HALF of the farm's 24 or so cats died from the flu...the cats had H5N1 not just in their lungs but also in their brains, hearts, and eyes.

The contaminated milk was the most likely source of the cat's fatal infections...suggests the virus is getting better and better at jumping to mammals, and data from elsewhere shows the virus is spreading widely in its newest host.

...Since 2022, the USDA has found H5N1 in over 200 MAMMALS, from big cats in zoos to harbor seals, mountain lions, raccoons, skunks, squirrels, polar bears, black bears, foxes, and bottlenose dolphins.

...While drinking RAW MILK is always dangerous because it carries the threat of various nasty bacterial infections, H5N1 also appears to be infectious in raw milk. And, unlike other influenza viruses, H5N1 has the potential to infect organs beyond the lungs and respiratory tract, as seen in the cats. The authors of the new study note that a 2019 consumer survey found that 4.4 percent of adults in the US consumed raw milk more than once in the previous year, suggesting more public awareness of the dangers of raw milk is necessary.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/04/concerning-spread-of-bird-flu-from-cows-...
---------------------------------------------------

Burrough ER, Magstadt DR, Petersen B, Timmermans SJ, Gauger PC, Zhang J, et al. Highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) clade 2.3.4.4b virus infection in domestic dairy cattle and cats, United States, 2024. Emerg Infect Dis. 2024 Jul. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid3007.240508 https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/7/24-0508_article#suggestedcitation

...Ingestion of feed contaminated with feces from wild birds infected with HPAI virus is presumed to be the most likely initial source of infection in the dairy farms. Although the exact source of the virus is unknown, migratory birds (Anseriformes and Charadriiformes) are likely sources because the Texas panhandle region lies in the Central Flyway, and those birds are the main natural reservoir for avian influenza viruses... HPAI H5N1 viruses are well adapted to domestic ducks and geese, and ducks appear to be a major reservoir...; however, terns have also emerged as an important source of virus spread... The mode of transmission among infected cattle is also unknown; however, horizontal transmission has been suggested because disease developed in resident cattle herds in Michigan, Idaho, and Ohio farms that received infected cattle from the affected regions, and those cattle tested positive for HPAI H5N1... Experimental studies are needed to decipher the transmission routes and pathogenesis (e.g., replication sites and movement) of the virus within infected cattle.

In conclusion, we showed that dairy cattle are susceptible to infection with HPAI H5N1 virus and can shed virus in milk and, therefore, might potentially transmit infection to other mammals via unpasteurized milk. A reduction in milk production and vague systemic illness were the most commonly reported clinical signs in affected cows, but neurologic signs and death rapidly developed in affected domestic cats. HPAI virus infection should be considered in dairy cattle when an unexpected and unexplained abrupt drop in feed intake and milk production occurs and for cats when rapid onset of neurologic signs and blindness develop. The recurring nature of global HPAI H5N1 virus outbreaks and detection of spillover events in a broad host range is concerning and suggests increasing virus adaptation in mammals. Surveillance of HPAI viruses in domestic production animals, including cattle, is needed to elucidate influenza virus evolution and ecology and prevent cross-species transmission.
____________________________________

Bird flu virus has been spreading in US cows for months, RNA reveals
Smriti Mallapaty | 27 April 2024

Genomic analysis suggests that the outbreak probably began in December or January, but a shortage of data is hampering efforts to pin down the source...

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01256-5
____________________________________

Scientists warn Canada 'way behind the virus' as bird flu explodes among U.S. dairy cattle
Lauren Pelley · Apr 30, 2024

...Matthew Miller, an immunologist and vaccine developer with McMaster University, who's among the Canadians working on H5N1 research. Without a "robust national surveillance program, there's no way to know if there are infections here or not."

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency ...has not detected this form of bird flu yet in dairy cattle — or any other livestock — in Canada. The disease is federally reportable in any species, cattle included.... The agency requires dairy producers to monitor for signs of infection, follow biosecurity measures, and contact their local CFIA office if there is a "high degree of suspicion" of the disease. (In birds, however, the disease is already widespread across the country, impacting an estimated 11 million farmed birds to date.)

...cross-country trade is still allowed. Asked whether dairy cattle can currently be transported between the U.S. and Canada, the CFIA said the World Organisation of Animal Health "does not recommend restrictions on the movement of healthy cattle and their products at this time." ...following a U.S. federal order last Wednesday requiring H5N1 testing for many dairy cattle moving between states, "Canada will also require testing for {avian flu} on imported lactating dairy cattle from the U.S.," the CFIA said. {margd: !!!}

...if H5N1 is detected in Canadian cattle, {CFIA} will help provide testing support. (in an earlier statement on social media, {CFIA said} it is "not currently testing raw or pasteurized milk," adding that the virus isn't a food safety concern.)

Multiple Canadian scientists, however, stress that widespread testing and surveillance efforts should already be underway rather than set to ramp up after a first detection...

...Toronto-based infectious diseases specialist Dr. Allison McGeer, from Sinai Health System, said she's "personally hoping we are not going to get caught off guard" here in Canada. What's reassuring...is that Canada does have robust human testing in place to catch severe flu infections. Typically, she says, Canadian hospitals use combined viral testing — for COVID, influenza and RSV — which can pick up a certain protein that is stable across all strains of influenza A. If a human infection of avian flu showed up in a hospital, the test would label it along the lines of "influenza A, subtype not detected... And, if the patient had also been in contact with poultry or wildlife, that combination of factors could trigger extra lab work to pinpoint the specific type of influenza — including H5N1. But that's only if someone is sick enough to visit a healthcare facility. "It's not a perfect system...but it's {a sensitive system} for detecting severe disease from H5N1."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/bird-flu-canada-1.7188779

Opinion: The bird flu is uncontrolled, and it keeps showing up in the scariest places
Dr. Hope Ferdowsian, internal medicine and public health physician and Gene Baur, president and co-founder of Farm Sanctuary | April 30, 2024

...traces of the bird flu virus in 20% of a nationally representative sample of commercially sold pasteurized milk.

...bird flu...was detected in a dairy worker in Texas.

...Dr. Barb Petersen, a dairy veterinarian in Amarillo who’d been caring for cows sick with the H5N1 strain of the bird flu in March, told NBC News that at the same time, multiple dairy workers, and not just those who’d come in contact with sick cows, got sick...“People had some classic flu-like symptoms, including high fever, sweating at night, chills, lower back pain...they also tended to have pretty severe conjunctivitis and swelling of their eyelids.” Despite these symptoms, those workers weren’t tested for H5N1.

Since 2022, bird flu has claimed the lives of over 100 million farmed birds in North America. Not only has it been documented in other domesticated animals — such as cows, dogs and cats— but it’s also spreading in the environment and infecting wild mammals, including sea lions, foxes and dolphins.

Too often, agribusiness and government agencies like the U.S. Department of Agriculture have ignored warning signs and withheld valuable data.

The media, too, has failed to adequately address the dangers of mutating diseases.

...since 2022, the USDA has dispensed $715 million to “producers, growers, and integrators in indemnities for depopulated birds and eggs” and $183 million “to kill and dispose of flocks and for virus elimination work.” All the while, little is done to address the root cause of the problem, the fact that factory farm conditions breed disease...irresponsible and risky practices like feeding poultry manure to cattle continue. It’s sobering to note that 90% of U.S. dairy herds have at least one animal infected with bovine leukemia virus, and nearly 70% have Johne’s disease, which may be linked to Crohn’s disease in humans...

In the absence of fundamental changes to agriculture, if we continue to subsidize factory farms that raise billions of animals in disease-ridden conditions and animals and workers alike get sick, we could be sowing the seeds of calamity.

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/bird-flu-spreading-milk-cows-rcna148...

While scientists such as Michael Mina (formerly Harvard, measles, EBV, COVID tests) welcomed USDA preprint below on H5N1 transmission, they want to see raw data and metadata so the scientific community can support:

Thao-Quyen Nguyen et al. 2024. Emergence and interstate spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) in dairy cattle. BioRxiv 1 May 2024.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.05.01.591751 https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.05.01.591751v1

This article is a preprint and has not been certified by peer review.

Abstract
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses cross species barriers and have the potential to cause pandemics. In North America, HPAI A(H5N1) viruses related to the goose/Guangdong 2.3.4.4b hemagglutinin phylogenetic clade have infected wild birds, poultry, and mammals. Our genomic analysis and epidemiological investigation showed that a reassortment* event in wild bird populations preceded a single wild bird-to-cattle transmission episode. The movement of asymptomatic cattle has likely played a role in the spread of HPAI within the United States dairy herd. Some molecular markers in virus populations were detected at low frequency that may lead to changes in transmission efficiency and phenotype after evolution in dairy cattle. Continued transmission of H5N1 HPAI within dairy cattle increases the risk for infection and subsequent spread of the virus to human populations.

* "Virus reassortment, or simply reassortment, is a process of genetic recombination that is exclusive to segmented RNA viruses in which co-infection of a host cell with multiple viruses may result in the shuffling of gene segments to generate progeny viruses with novel genome combinations" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4497687/)
______________________________

Raj Rajnarayanan @RajlabN | 3:05 PM · May 2, 2024:
Assistant Dean of Research and Associate Professor, NYITCOM at Arkansas State University

#H5N1 updates
Looks like there is a cattle sequence with PB2 E627K (present in the sequence from the human isolate)

Table (https://twitter.com/RajlabN/status/1786109773597007890/photo/1)

in https://biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.05.01.591751v1

Texas vet who cares for 40,000 cattle said nearly every farm that had cows sick with bird flu also had sick workers: ‘I had people who never missed work, miss work’
Jonel Aleccia and The Associated Press | May 1, 2024

The first calls that Dr. Barb Petersen received in early March were from dairy owners worried about crows, pigeons and other birds dying on their Texas farms. Then came word that barn cats — half of them on one farm — had died suddenly.

Within days, the Amarillo veterinarian was hearing about sick cows with unusual symptoms: high fevers, reluctance to eat and much less milk...samples tested positive for a bird flu virus never before seen in cattle. It was the first proof that the bird flu, known as Type A H5N1, could infect cows. As of Wednesday {1 May 2024}, 36 U.S. herds had confirmed infections...

...At the same time, on almost every farm with sick animals, Petersen said she saw sick people, too. “We were actively checking on humans...I had people who never missed work, miss work.”... some workers had symptoms consistent with flu: fever and body aches, stuffy nose or congestion. Some had conjunctivitis, the eye inflammation detected in the Texas dairy worker diagnosed with bird flu.

...Many workers are reluctant to be tested...Some of the workers who fell ill sought treatment and were offered oseltamivir, an antiviral drug sold under the brand name Tamiflu...

https://fortune.com/2024/05/01/texas-vet-cattle-bird-flu-sick-workers/

Influenza and RSV Wastewater Monitoring in the U.S. | Biobot* | Week of April 29, 2024

...Summary: Week of 4/29/24
We want to share the information that we have at the moment on the rapidly evolving H5N1 influenza virus situation. Biobot’s influenza A assay detects the H5N1 influenza subtype, which is an influenza A virus, but does not distinguish between the different subtypes of influenza A (e.g., H5N1 vs. H1N1). While we are not seeing a widespread increase across the country in influenza A virus in the recent week, we are seeing a slight uptick in influenza A concentrations in the South. While this is concerning, we want to highlight some important points about the role of Biobot’s wastewater data in understanding the current circulation/risk of H5N1 in the South and nationally:

At this point, we cannot determine if these upticks are due to seasonal influenza A virus or if H5N1 could be playing a role in the increase.
Biobot is currently testing for influenza A in 6 of the 9 states with positive dairy herds (Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Idaho, Ohio, and North Carolina), among several other states across the country.
Our current assays do not distinguish between infections in humans versus infected animals that are shedding into the wastewater system.

This situation is rapidly evolving, and our team will continue to monitor H5N1 closely. We will provide any additional information as it becomes relevant or available via Twitter and here in the risk reports...

https://biobot.io/risk-reports/influenza-and-rsv-wastewater-monitoring-in-the-u-...

* Public health insights powered by wastewater | U.S. Nationwide Wastewater Monitoring Network: http://biobot.io/data

Animal Health Canada | Santé animale Canada @AHC_SAC | 4:57 PM · May 1, 2024 X:

Notice to industry: Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI or H5N1) in dairy cattle in the USA - Addendum to export certificate
https://inspection.canada.ca/animal-health/terrestrial-animals/diseases/reportab...

{e.g., The Addendum to export certificate for breeding Cattle from the United States of America (PDF) must certify that:
- the lactating dairy cows listed above have tested negative by PCR for Influenza A virus at an APHIS-approved National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) laboratory, within 7 days of export, on (insert date)
- the lactating dairy cows that were found positive have completed a 60-day waiting period and have been re-tested with a negative result
- the lactating dairy cows have not been on a premises where HPAI has been detected during the 60 days immediately preceding exportation, etc....}

@InspectionCan
Text excerpt (https://twitter.com/AHC_SAC/status/1785775593700671969/photo/1)

Squirrels may have given medieval Britons leprosy (BBC)

Humans may have caught leprosy from squirrels in medieval times, researchers say. They studied human and red squirrel bones from archaeological sites in Winchester, southern England, and found they had closely related strains of the bacteria that causes it... Armadillos carry it and are suspected of passing it on to humans. Some modern red squirrels in the UK also have it, but there has never been a reported case of transmission to humans and experts say the risk is very low. It’s the first time a medieval animal has been identified as a host for the disease... It's not clear whether squirrels in medieval times gave humans leprosy or the other way around. But the shared strain suggests it was circulating between people and animals in the Middle Ages in a way that hadn’t been detected before, the researchers say. Back then, squirrel fur was used as a fine lining for clothes and some people also had pet squirrels...

>60 John5918: Apparently, squirrels were popular pets as late as Victorian times! Tree squirrels don't hibernate, but some at least (flying squirrels in winter) can have somewhat lower metabolism and body temperature, a feature they share with other leprosy host, the armadillo? (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-armadillos-can-spread-leprosy-180954440/)

{I'm trying to befriend neighbourhood crows--guess I should research their disease-carrying capacity. I think they get West Nile Virus same way we do (mosquito bite), but they can get HPAI/H5N1 if they dine on infected morts? Might be able to transmit HPAI/H5N1 with close contact?}
_________________________________

Never mind risk to dairy workers, and potential for viral reassortment as HPAI virus crisscrosses species (= potential for increasing human-human transmissibility), Rs are concerned about impacts on dairy industry... (One silver lining of any reduced demand for beef and dairy might be reduced C emissions?)

Republicans, concerned about dairy industry, urge calm about H5N1 bird flu
Sarah Owermohle | May 2, 2024

Republican lawmakers have one big message on the avian flu outbreak in cows: Calm down.

As the H5N1 strain hops from birds to more than 36 dairy farms in nine states, both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have pressed the Biden administration for quick and clear information on the risks for dairy cows and, potentially, people. But even as new tests show pasteurized milk is safe and agriculture officials impose testing regimens for interstate cattle moves, Republicans have another burgeoning concern — that alarm means harm for the dairy industry...

https://www.statnews.com/2024/05/02/bird-flu-testing-dairy-state-politics-in-con...

There's no question H5N1 bird flu has 'pandemic potential.' How likely is that worst-case scenario?
Unprecedented scale of outbreaks raise new concerns, scientists warn
Lauren Pelley | May 04, 2024

..."The increasing host range of the virus, {H5N1} potential spread among mammals and between a mammal and a human, its wide geographical spread, and the unprecedented scale of the outbreaks in birds, raise concerns about the pandemic potential" of H5N1, warned a May editorial in leading medical journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases. Yet the reality is murkier.

...Louise Moncla, an avian flu researcher and assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania...ongoing analysis of the sequences released to date also outlines how the currently circulating form of H5N1 — a lineage known as 2.3.4.4b — features some concerning mutations. "There's no smoking guns...There are some mutations that have occurred that may enhance replication in mammals, but some of the mutations that we would be really worried about, we're not seeing."

...The risk of going from a few sporadic cases to "something of international concern" is "not insignificant," CDC principal deputy director Nirav Shah said ... "We've all seen how a virus can spread around the globe before public health has even had a chance to get its shoes on. That's a risk and one that we have to be mindful of."

...Death rate remains hazy
...early 2000s...the World Health Organization had estimated that the case fatality rate for avian flu in humans was roughly 60 per cent. If such a death rate were to be sustained in a pandemic, {epidemiologist Timothy Sly, a longtime influenza researcher and professor emeritus with Toronto Metropolitan University's school of public health} and other scientists wrote in a 2008 paper, H5N1 would represent a "truly dreadful scenario."

But the team's own analysis of surveillance data, along with blood test studies to determine prior exposure to the virus, concluded the virus's case fatality rate in humans was likely closer to 14 to 33 per cent.

Far more human infections have been reported since then, including those that may be flying under the radar, suggesting the true death rate could be even lower still...

...{Still} the impact of a new flu virus sweeping through the population would {could?} grind society to a halt, causing high levels of death and illness...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/h5n1-bird-flu-pandemic-1.7193384

Increasingly good reason to keep kitty indoors, and esp not to cuddle when you and/or he/she are under the weather?

H5N1 Bird Flu Circulating in Dairy Cows in the United States
4 May 2024

Since the last update update on 1. May 2024, genetic sequences of 302 (HPAI) H5N1 viruses collected from animals were added to GISAID EpiFlu, with 214 from 6 mammalian hosts (dairy cattle, goat, domestic cat, skunk, mountain lion and raccoon) collected in 13 U.S. States (Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington) between 10. January 2024 and 4. May 2024. The new sequences suggest a shared common ancestor between Texas and New Mexico cattle sequences with earliest detection in March, before appearing in other states. Also, new raccoon and domestic cat samples clustering with the ongoing cattle outbreak sequences...

https://gisaid.org/resources/gisaid-in-the-news/highly-pathogenic-avian-influenz...

>61 margd: I’m doing the same with ravens who have been coming by the natural birdbath at the bottom of my drive. I’d not intend to have contact; just want to see whether they will reciprocate for food. They like sausage.

>64 2wonderY: Corbids are SO darn smart! Cousins had a pet raven when we were kids that talked! Unlocked a shed! One of them (cousin) now befriends wild crows. Follows FB group ~ "Crow Lovers". I'm offering the murder in our back two-acres peanuts on shiny aluminum pie plate, birdbath, and nesting material. Fingers crossed! (I'll add sausage etc. to the menu if/when they come!)

Danielle Beckman @DaniBeckman | 4:32 PM · May 4, 2024:
Neuroscientist working with primates 🐒. PharmD with an MS in Biophysics and a PhD in Biological Chemistry. Microscopy lover 🧠🔬 . #NeuroCovid is real.

I will keep repeating, even if nobody pays attention. We don't want to test what #H5N1 does to the brain. Influenza viruses are usually not neutropic, but we know this is not true for H5N1. Back in 2009 we already knew they are particularly bad for dopaminergic neurons.

Text highlighted PNAS paper H5N1 neuroinflammation, neurodegeneration (https://twitter.com/DaniBeckman/status/1786856553200410797/photo/1)

2024, check the symptoms list presented by barn cats that were fed with infected milk.
Text (https://twitter.com/DaniBeckman/status/1786858424107508219/photo/1)

Bird flu's wild range
Alison Snyder | update 5 May 2024

{US map of infected wild mammals. Among 221 cases, 85 were found in red foxes.}

https://www.axios.com/2024/05/04/bird-flu-wildlife-mammals

Bird flu threatens to put a damper on cow cuddling
P.j. Huffstutter | May 4, 2024

...Paying farmers to snuggle up with half-ton heifers is all the rage in the United States thanks to social media. For visitors, cuddling dairy or beef cattle can be therapeutic, or simply an adventure for city dwellers looking for good old country fun.

...Government officials say the risk of human infection is low. But state and federal government officials are urging cattle and dairy farmers to limit outside visitors as much as possible...

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/how-bird-flu-could-threaten-cow-cuddling-yes-it...

Bird flu outbreak in dairy cows fails to deter US raw milk sellers
Lisa Baertlein, Julie Steenhuysen and Tom Polansek | May 2, 2024

...Thirty of the 50 U.S. states permit the sale of raw milk, which accounts for less than 1% percent of U.S. milk sales. A nationwide survey of pasteurized milk - heated to kill pathogens - found avian flu virus particles in about 20% of samples tested.

Many raw milk drinkers share a deep skepticism of public health officials, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which also battled political polarization and misinformation during and after the COVID pandemic...

Federal health officials have repeated warnings for consumers to avoid raw milk, which can carry a host of illness-causing pathogens, due to the outbreak. But changing the minds of raw milk fans, who range from mothers seeking to feed their families unprocessed food to body builders on protein-heavy diets, will be an uphill climb...

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/bird-flu-outbreak-dairy-cows-fails-deter-us-raw...
--------------------------------------------

TikTok’s Raw Milk Influencers Are Going to Give Us All Bird Flu
Julia Métraux | 3 May 2024

Influencers love unpasteurized milk—and so does the H5N1 virus.

...“People are seeing more influencers talk about raw milk over the last year or more,” said Jessica Gall Myrick, a Pennsylvania State University health communications professor. Myrick says that trend “follows the changes in state laws allowing more retail and on-farm sales.” As a result, more and more people are buying raw milk: Ambrook Research reports that sales “jumped 27 percent, from $12 million in 2021 to $19.4 million” in 2023...

... Many states still do not allow raw milk to be sold in stores, with some exceptions for farms, meaning that people inspired by raw milk influencers may have to go through more hurdles to buy it. “You can’t find raw milk in most grocery stores, and social media likes and shares are not going to change that,” Labus said. For now, that is.

https://www.motherjones.com/food/2024/05/raw-milk-influencers-h5n1-bird-flu-viru...

>68 margd: cuddling dairy or beef cattle can be therapeutic

Good grief. What will they think of next?

>70 John5918: I'd say TikTok must go, but raw milk sounds like more of a risk esp. if they don't snuff out avian flu in dairy cows by late fall (human flu season)... :/ States should disallow raw milk sales, but industry will push back? Where is CDC???

>71 margd:

We drink raw milk from local cattle, but of course these are free roaming and not farmed on an industrial scale. We boil the milk before drinking.

>72 John5918: If you're boiling milk (212F ?), you've pasteurized it and then some: pasteurizing is 161F for 15 sec or 145F for 30 sec. I think pasteurized milk lasts 7-10 days in the refrigerator. Ultrapasteurized (280F for two secs) kills more bacteria and lasts much longer: the specialty milk I buy for our lactose-intolerant sons and g'son is ultrapasteurized and lasts as long as two months in the refrigerator.
https://www.wikihow.com/Pasteurize-Milk

Even with your milk, if raw, I think there must be risks such as brucellosis and dangerous strains of E. coli, perhaps less risk than in milk pooled from many cattle? These pathogens tend to be most dangerous to young, elderly, immune-compromised?

Milk drinkers need to push back against dairies that don't cooperate!

‘They need to back off': Farm states push back on Biden’s bird flu response
Meredith Lee Hill, David Lim and Marcia Brown |05/06/2024

The CDC is locked in a power struggle with key states and agriculture players as it tries to better track the virus and prevent another potential pandemic...

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/06/bird-flu-dairy-farms-cdc-00156119

WHO's Chief Scientist Jeremy Garrar on H5N1 (1:54):
https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1787608286705131622

“We have to make sure that the H5N1 does not come across humans as it can easily develop the ability to transmit between humans." {transcription by Dr Feigl-Ding}

Feigl-Ding was first to go public with risks of COVID. Some say he worries the public too much, but I appreciate his sharing some of scientists' darkest fears about new pathogens and variants. While bad, I don't think the mutation he discusses is THE one that would facilitate human-to-human transmission (allow binding to ACE2 receptors in upper respiratory tract?)? Still, every human (or pig?) infection, especially people/pigs with other respiratory infections, is opportunity that could select for that spontaneous mutation--hopefully farmers have their act together before flu season next fall!!

Eric Feigl-Ding @DrEricDing | 6:44 PM · May 6, 2024:
Epidemiologist & health economist. Whistleblower. Faculty @NECSI {The leading research institute in #ComplexSystems science theory and applications. Cambridge, MA}. Fmr 16 years Harvard. Early warnings: http://nym.ag/3olszuo {DC/VA}
https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1787614415975592004

...3) Last year, scientists warned of a key mutation that would help supercharge human transmission down the road — the critical “E627K” mutation in the virus’s RNA polymerase PB2 gene. ➡️Well, guess what effing appeared in a CDC report for the first time last month in an infected Texas man? ⚠️That very goddamn E627K mutation! This is mammalian adaptation. This is why WHO is warning we are maybe approaching the brink of human adaptation.

(Warning article about E627K from 2023).
https://science.org/content/article/bad-worse-avian-flu-must-change-trigger-huma...
Image (https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1787614415975592004/photo/1)
Text (https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1787614415975592004/photo/2)

(CDC report from April 2024).
https://cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/spotlights/2023-2024/h5n1-analysis-texas.htm
Text (https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1787614415975592004/photo/3)

4) This was precisely my worry last month when I also warned about this key mutation when it was found in the Texas man who got infected. Later studies show that the mutation seemingly arose just in the man

{9:30 AM · Apr 4, 2024: 👁️AVIAN FLU CONJUNCTIVITIS IN HUMANS—Scientists are worried about avian flu infecting humans via the eyes—because we humans have the same sugar-receptor-complexes as birds, which allows eye infections of #H5N1 highly pathogenic #avianflu. Avian flu experts worried about high virus levels in cow milk and farmers who milk cows. ➡️Important also not to drink raw milk, or eat cheeses made from raw milk either, CDC warns.
https://www.science.org/content/article/us-dairy-farm-worker-infected-as-bird-fl...
Text excerpts
https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1775878622705865096/photo/1
https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1775879425843683514/photo/1

5) Notice how much the CDC tried do downplay this E627K mutation when they found it last month. Yet a year ago, the Science article from 2023 warned it was one of the most worrisome mutations for avian flu to acquire for human danger!
Technical Update: Summary Analysis of Genetic Sequences of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Viruses in Texas, 2 April 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/spotlights/2023-2024/h5n1-analysis-texas.htm
Text excerpt (https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1775493666095645066/photo/1)

6) Again, the new E627K mutation was specifically “Acquired in the patient”!
Text excerpt (https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1775493666095645066/photo/2)

7) Translation—this mutation is NEWLY EVOLVED. It’s not been seen much in birds or cows before. This specific strain with E627K seems to have emerged in the Texas man. This is why we are worried. The virus is evolving and this mutation is being favorably selected (unfortunately)

Got Milk? Then You Need the Full Story on Bird Flu
Donald G. McNeil Jr. | May 6, 2024

...the dairy industry and the government need to be more transparent about what is brewing inside our milk—and what’s being done to stop it.

The director of the CDC should go on television warning Americans to avoid raw milk. (One survey suggests that 4 percent of us drink it occasionally.) We need a national plan to test dairy workers who are exposed to mists of raw milk when hooking up milking machines or power-washing floors. Parents, if they are worried, could be encouraged to heat milk before giving it to their children or try oat or almondmilk, at least until this bovine epidemic is under control. (I still pour milk in my coffee, but I microwave it first. If I had young children, I would be nervous.) Finally, at a minimum, the industry should ban one of its most dangerous and disgusting practices: feeding “poultry litter”—nutrient-rich chicken feathers and feces—to cattle...

https://www.thefp.com/p/donald-mcneil-milk-bird-flu

More raw milk caution required during avian flu crisis
By Dan Flynn on May 8, 2024

...The FDA, which continues to test, has “advisedly strongly” against raw milk since May 1. {It remains against federal law to sell unpasteurized, raw milk across state lines.}

Several states have issued similar warnings. New Mexico is the latest, issuing its warning yesterday.

...It’s legal to buy raw milk in some manner in 27 states, with direct options most common. Raw milk advocates often claim the choice is more nutritious, but that is without scientific evidence.

Pasteurization is the best mechanism for combating bird flu because it inactivates viruses and kills the harmful bacteria in milk.

The FDA has found fragments of the bird flu virus in commercially available milk, cottage cheese, and sour cream. That’s enough for health experts to advise steering clear of raw milk until there is an all-clear signal on bird flu...

Raw milk can carry harmful germs, such as Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, E. coli, Listeria, Brucella, and Salmonella. ..bird flu...

Raw milk is one of the riskiest foods. People who get sick from raw milk might have many days of diarrhea, stomach cramping, and vomiting. Some people can develop severe or even life-threatening diseases, including:

Guillain-Barré syndrome, which can cause paralysis, and
Hemolytic uremic syndrome can result in kidney failure, stroke, and even death...

https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2024/05/more-raw-milk-caution-required-during-avi...

Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @HelenBranswell | Last edited
3:52 PM · May 9, 2024 {X}:
I cover infectious diseases @statnews . 2020 Polk winner. Nieman '11. ... #H5N2 #birdflu #Covid #polio #flu, #RSV.

.@USDA reports 6 new herds that have tested positive for #H5N1 #birdflu today, the first new confirmations since 4/25.
No new states reporting. Four new herds in Michigan and one apiece in Idaho and Colorado.
National total of confirmed herds: 42.

https://aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-dete...

Bar graph dairy cow H5N1 outbreaks by state (https://twitter.com/HelenBranswell/status/1788658397144826262/photo/1)

Biodiversity loss is biggest driver of infectious disease outbreaks, says study (Guardian)

Biodiversity loss is the biggest environmental driver of infectious disease outbreaks, making them more dangerous and widespread, a study has found. New infectious diseases are on the rise and they often originate in wildlife. In meta-analysis published in the journal Nature, researchers found that of all the “global change drivers” that are destroying ecosystems, loss of species was the greatest in increasing the risk of outbreaks. Biodiversity loss was followed by climate change and introduction of non-native species... Researchers say that reducing emissions, reducing biodiversity loss and preventing invasive species could all help to reduce the burden of disease...

Kai Kupferschmidt @kakape | 12:15 PM · May 12, 2024:
social science journalist. molecular biologist. curious. writer at @sciencemagazine. part of @pandemiapodcast, all things #blue
14 tweets • https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1789690737237299502.html
Read on X: https://twitter.com/kakape/status/1789690737237299502

With #H5N1 #birdflu spreading amongst dairy cows, one of the most important things to think about right now is what would need to happen for this virus to actually start a pandemic.

I'm on a train, so a brief thread...
One thing to remember is that compared to some other influenza viruses H5N1 actually faces pretty high barriers to becoming a human-to-human pathogen. I wrote a story a little over a year ago outlining some of the changes it would probably need:

From bad to worse
How the avian flu must change before it can trigger a human pandemic
Kai Kupferschmidt | 6 Apr 2023
https://www.science.org/content/article/bad-worse-avian-flu-must-change-trigger-...
...

Raw milk fans plan to drink up as experts warn of high levels of H5N1 virus
Beth Mole - 5/13/2024

...despite 52% fatality rate in humans.

...California-based Raw Milk Institute called the warnings "clearly fearmongering." The institute's founder, Mark McAfee, told the Los Angeles Times this weekend that his customers are, in fact, specifically requesting raw milk from H5N1-infected cows. According to McAfee, his customers believe, without evidence, that directly drinking high levels of the avian influenza virus will give them immunity to the deadly pathogen...

https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/05/anti-pasteurization-crowd-reaffirms-love...
------------------------------------------

Cats suffer H5N1 brain infections, blindness, death after drinking raw milk...
Beth Mole - 4/29/2024

On March 16, cows on a Texas dairy farm began showing symptoms of a mysterious illness now known to be H5N1 bird flu. Their symptoms were nondescript, but their milk production dramatically dropped and turned thick and creamy yellow. The next day, cats on the farm that had consumed some of the raw milk from the sick cows also became ill. While the cows would go on to largely recover, the cats weren't so lucky. They developed depressed mental states, stiff body movements, loss of coordination, circling, copious discharge from their eyes and noses, and blindness. By March 20, over half of the farm's 24 or so cats died from the flu.

...the cats had H5N1 not just in their lungs but also in their brains, hearts, and eyes. The findings are similar to those seen in cats that were experimentally infected with H5N1, aka highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAI). ...

The contaminated milk was the most likely source of the cat's fatal infections... Although it can't be entirely ruled out that the cats got sick from eating infected wild birds, the milk they drank from the sick cows was brimming with virus particles, and genetic data shows almost exact matches between the cows, their milk, and the cats...

https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/04/concerning-spread-of-bird-flu-from-cows-...
-------------------------------------------

Burrough ER, Magstadt DR, Petersen B, Timmermans SJ, Gauger PC, Zhang J, et al. Highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) clade 2.3.4.4b virus infection in domestic dairy cattle and cats, United States, 2024. Emerg Infect Dis. 2024 Jul {Original Publication Date: April 29, 2024; Cited 5/14/2024}. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid3007.240508
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/7/24-0508_article

Welcome news for Canadian dairy "as of today" (14 May 2024):

Lauren Pelley @LaurenPelley | 2:16 PM · May 14, 2024 {X}:
Senior Health & Medical Reporter at @CBCNews

NEW: Canadian Food Inspection Agency has first results from commercial #H5N1 milk testing. CFIA tested 142 milk samples from across Canada. As of today, none tested positive for fragments of virus behind avian flu, "with no evidence of disease in dairy cattle detected in milk."

Source: https://inspection.canada.ca/animal-health/terrestrial-animals/diseases/reportab...

Chiara Eisner @ChiaraEisner | May 15, 2024:
Investigative Reporter, NPR.
Read on X: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1790863525432188979.html

Last week I went to Texas — ground 0 for the bird flu spreading across the U.S. — to buy raw milk and test it for the flu.

Why?
Feds have advised against drinking raw milk amidst this outbreak but the milk is still for sale. What’s the risk to consumers? We could find out…

I picked four farms around San Antonio and Houston. Paid for milk from each. Stuck it in a cooler. Drove it up to 1 of 4 labs authorized by the USDA to test for bird flu. Left the samples in a freezer: {photos}

But the lab wouldn’t perform the tests! They called me the next day to say the lab had called all 4 farms to *ask for permission* and all 4 said no. They knew what a nonnegative result would do for their business, the lab said, so they declined the test…

At first they said this was a USDA policy, to obtain permission. We asked the USDA whether that was true, the Sec of Ag said no. When I told the lab that, they said, well, we’re still not going to do it.

This shows that farms that sell raw milk to people are declining testing…

It also shows it’s difficult for journalists & anyone other than the farms, vets, or the gov to test their own milk for the virus to understand what the risk is.

What could the risk be?
The big risk is that someone with the (human) flu catches bird flu, and the flu mutates…

If the flu mutates and becomes a new flu that is more contagious amongst people — right now bird flu is not very contagious from person to person — that could be the start of a pandemic.

More here from @Pien_Huang and I — and more coming soon: https://www.npr.org/2024/05/15/1251647612/a-bird-flu-outbreak-among-dairy-cows-s...

Good news--fingers crossed!

Friday, May 17, 2024
NIH study shows chronic wasting disease unlikely to move from animals to people

WHAT:
A new study of prion diseases, using a human cerebral organoid model, suggests there is a substantial species barrier preventing transmission of chronic wasting disease (CWD) from cervids—deer, elk and moose—to people. The findings, from National Institutes of Health scientists and published in Emerging Infectious Diseases, are consistent with decades of similar research in animal models at the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)...

...The authors acknowledge the limitations of their research, including the possibility that a small number of people may have genetic susceptibility that was not accounted for, and that emergence of new strains with a lesser barrier to infection remains possible. They are optimistic that the inference of these current data is that humans are extremely unlikely to contract a prion disease because of inadvertently eating CWD-infected cervid meat.

ARTICLES:
B Groveman and K Williams et al. Lack of Transmission of Chronic Wasting Disease Prions to Human Cerebral Organoids. Emerging Infectious Diseases DOI: 10.3201/eid3006.231568(link is external) (2024).

B Groveman and NC Ferreira et al. Human cerebral organoids as a therapeutic drug screening model for Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. Scientific Reports DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-84689-6(link is external) (2021).

B Race et al. Lack of Transmission of Chronic Wasting Disease to Cynomolgus Macaques. Journal of Virology DOI: 10.1128/JVI.00550-18 (2018).

B Race et al. Susceptibilities of nonhuman primates to chronic wasting disease. Emerging Infectious Diseases DOI: 10.3201/eid1509.090253 (2009).

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-study-shows-chronic-wasting-di...

Paywall on STAT article below, but former CDC director Dr Tom Frieden* tweeted: "There’s no way to know the trajectory bird flu will take or what threat it might pose to us in the days and months ahead. That’s why it’s crucial to monitor it closely, share new information transparently and act quickly based on what we learn.

USDA, FDA turf battles hamper responses to outbreaks like H5N1 bird flu
Rachel Cohrs Zhang, Lizzy Lawrence, Nicholas Florko | May 14, 2024
https://www.statnews.com/2024/05/14/bird-flu-dairy-cattle-federal-aid-turf-war-u...
----------------------------------------

* Dr. Tom Frieden. Global health leader and epidemiologist. President and CEO of @ResolveTSL. Former @CDCgov director and nycHealthy commissioner. Focused on saving lives. {NYC}

CDC launching wastewater dashboard to track bird flu virus spread
Megan Molteni and Helen Branswell | May 13, 2024

Reluctance among dairy farmers to report H5N1 bird flu outbreaks within their herds or allow testing of their workers has made it difficult to keep up with the virus’s rapid spread, prompting federal public health officials to look to wastewater to help fill in the gaps.

On Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to unveil a public dashboard tracking influenza A viruses in sewage that the agency is collecting from 600 wastewater treatment sites around the country.

The testing is not H5N1-specific; H5N1 belongs to the large influenza A family of viruses... the presence of high levels of influenza A in wastewater from now through the end of the summer could be a reliable indicator that something unusual is going on in a particular area.

...A dashboard that shows high influenza A readings down to the level of individual wastewater operations will give a much more detailed picture of where transmission of the virus is currently happening — potentially drawing attention to dairy farms in those areas. Kirby admitted those concerns have been raised, and said the presence of the virus in wastewater will not necessarily mean there is an infected herd nearby...

https://www.statnews.com/2024/05/13/cdc-wastewater-surveillance-dashboard-bird-f...

Wastewater testing finds H5N1 avian flu in 9 Texas cities
Lisa Schnirring | May 13, 2024

Researchers who sequenced viruses from wastewater samples from 10 Texas cities found H5N1 avian flu virus in 9 of them, sometimes at levels that rivaled seasonal flu.

... Mike Tisza, PhD, the first author of the study and assistant professor of virology and microbiology at Baylor, said it's still not clear where the viruses came from, but the evidence tilts toward an animal source, because the researchers didn't see any mutations with known links to human adaptation.

He added that the network in Texas appears to be the only one using the wastewater sequencing technology {margd: others such as CA identify to level of influenza A, which H5N1 is) but that H5N1 is probably present in wastewater in other areas. If the virus becomes more of a problem, Tisza said wastewater sequencing may be the best way to identify new adaptive mutations...

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/avian-influenza-bird-flu/wastewater-testing-finds-h5n...

US CDC asks states to keep flu testing on high this summer
Reuters | May 21, 2024

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control on Tuesday advised states to aid in H5N1 bird flu surveillance by increasing testing of influenza A virus samples during the summer season to help detect even rare cases of transmission of the virus in humans...

https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2024-05-21/us-cdc-asks-states-to-keep-fl...

Michigan reports a {mild} human case of bird flu, the nation’s second linked to H5N1 outbreak in dairy cows
Helen Branswell and Megan Molteni | May 22, 2024

https://www.statnews.com/2024/05/22/bird-flu-in-humans-michigan-reports-h5n1-inf...
------------------------------------

Michigan statement: https://www.michigan.gov/mdhhs/inside-mdhhs/newsroom/2024/05/22/influenza-a-dete...

Emmanuel @ejustin46 | 11:30 PM · May 23, 2024:
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1793847035860603170.html
On X: https://x.com/ejustin46/status/1793847035860603170

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗯𝗶𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗹𝘀: 𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝘇𝗮 𝗛5𝗡1, led to efficient intra- and interspecies transmission:

Leonardo C Caserta et al. 2024. From birds to mammals: spillover of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus to dairy cattle led to efficient intra- and interspecies transmission. BioRxiv 22 May 2024. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.05.22.595317 https://biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.05.22.595317v1. Preprint, not reviewed. "...Analysis of whole genome sequences obtained from dairy cows, birds, domestic cats, and a racoon from affected farms indicated multidirectional interspecies transmissions. Epidemiologic and genomic data revealed efficient cow-to-cow transmission after healthy cows from an affected farm were transported to a premise in a different state. These results ... underscor(e) the ability of the virus to cross species barriers..."
Fig 1 detection & isolation of H5N1 in dairy cattle (https://x.com/ejustin46/status/1793847035860603170/photo/1)

... 3) Affected cattle displayed clinical signs like decreased appetite, respiratory distress, diarrhea, decreased milk production, and abnormal milk. Virus was detected in milk, nasal swabs, blood, and tissues of infected cows.

Photos, clinical presentation of H5N1 in cows (https://x.com/ejustin46/status/1793847055611482181/photo/1)

... 5) Virus transmission between cows was determined to be efficient based on epidemiological and genomic analysis. Virus was also transmitted to wild birds, domestic cats, and a raccoon on infected farms.
Fig Phylogeny of H5N1 in species and farms (https://x.com/ejustin46/status/1793847079850463611/photo/1)

6) Genomic analysis identified a reassortment event that produced a new genotype (B3.13) with enhanced ability to infect cows. Mutations accumulated after transmission to cows.
Fig 5. Dispersal of B3.13. to farms and other states (https://x.com/ejustin46/status/1793847090541724019/photo/1)

7) Between-farm transmission occurred through livestock movement, contact with infected wild birds, and fomites/personnel movement between locations.
Fig 6 Mechanisms spillover and spread of B3.13 (https://x.com/ejustin46/status/1793847101274959933/photo/1)

8) This represents the first sustained transmission of H5N1 in a livestock species. Efficient shedding and transmission in cows is a concern that could allow the virus to further adapt to mammals.
Extended data Fig 2 histology cat tissues (https://x.com/ejustin46/status/1793847112721158218/photo/1)

9) So in summary, this paper describes the spillover and transmission of H5N1 virus in dairy cattle herds in multiple U.S. states, highlighting its ability to cross species barriers into a new host...
Extended Data figure 3 clade trees (https://x.com/ejustin46/status/1793847123437560280/photo/1)

10) Other extended data
Extended data fig 4 cclade trees farms & BLACKBIRDS (https://x.com/ejustin46/status/1793847134179176925/photo/1)

Philip S. Meade et al. 2024. Detection of clade 2.3.4.4b highly pathogenic H5N1 influenza virus in New York City. J of Virology. 15 May 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/jvi.00626-24 https://journals.asm.org/doi/full/10.1128/jvi.00626-24

ABSTRACT
...We detected highly pathogenic H5N1 viruses in six samples from four different bird species and performed whole-genome sequencing. Sequencing analysis showed the presence of multiple different genotypes. Our work highlights that the interface between animals and humans that may give rise to zoonotic infections or even pandemics is not limited to rural environments and commercial poultry operations but extends into the heart of our urban centers.

Bird flu: uh oh?
1. Pasteurization may not inactivate all H5N1 virus. {Study didn't look at ultrapasteurization.}
2. Virus in untreated milk can infect susceptible animals that consume it. {18 states, but not Canada, permit sales of untreated milk.}
3. Mice can be infected. {Can rodents in wastewater be vessels next fall for H5N1 to swap genes with other human viruses?}

Lizheng Guan et al. 2024. Cow’s Milk Containing Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus — Heat Inactivation and Infectivity in Mice (Correspondence). NEJM May 24, 2024. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMc2405495
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2405495

To the Editor:
....{63C, 72C} heat treatment for 15 or 20 seconds reduced virus titers by more than 4.5 log units but did not completely inactivate the virus (Table 1). We emphasize that the conditions used in our laboratory study are not identical to the large-scale industrial treatment of raw milk.

...HPAI A(H5N1) virus may therefore remain infectious for several weeks in raw milk kept at 4°C.

...we orally inoculated ... mice with 50 μl (3×106 pfu) of {HPAI A(H5N1)–positive milk} ... day 4 ... We detected high virus titers in the respiratory organs (which suggests that infection may have occurred through the pharynx) and moderate virus titers in several other organs, findings consistent with the systemic infections typically caused by HPAI H5 viruses in mammals. Detection of virus in the mammary glands of two mice was consistent with the high virus load in the milk of lactating cows, even though these mice were not lactating.

Collectively, our data indicate that HPAI A(H5N1) virus in untreated milk can infect susceptible animals that consume it. In summary, HPAI H5–positive milk poses a risk when consumed untreated, but heat inactivation under the laboratory conditions used here reduces HPAI H5 virus titers by more than 4.5 log units. However, bench-top experiments do not recapitulate commercial pasteurization processes.

Krutika Kuppalli, MD FIDSA @KrutikaKuppalli | 11:33 AM · May 25, 2024:
ID {Infectious Disease} physician. COVID-19, mpox, emerging infections, global health & pandemic preparedness and response. {WHO}

The state of #Michigan has launched a dedicated page for #BirdFlu, featuring up-to-date info on the outbreak and a map of current hotspots. Check it out for the latest updates.

Interesting how the herds with cattle detections are clustered together

https://michigan.gov/mdard/animals/diseases/avian/avian-influenza

Map Michigan poultry & dairy infected counties (https://x.com/KrutikaKuppalli/status/1794391432922554523/photo/1)

US and Europe ramp up efforts for H5N1 bird flu vaccines
Health
Yusuf Uluçam | 2024-05-27

The United States and Europe are taking steps to acquire or manufacture H5N1 bird flu vaccines that could be used to protect at-risk poultry and dairy workers, veterinarians and lab technicians, government officials said, moves influenza experts say could curb the threat of a pandemic.

U.S officials last week said they were moving bulk vaccine from CSL Seqirus (CSL.AX), that closely matches the current virus into finished shots that could provide 4.8 million doses of vaccine. European health officials told Reuters they were in talks to acquire CSL's prepandemic vaccine.

Canadian health officials said they have met with GSK (GSK.L), maker of Canada's seasonal flu shots, to discuss acquiring and manufacturing a prepandemic bird flu vaccine once its seasonal flu production capacity is freed up.

Other countries, including the U.K., are discussing how to proceed on prepandemic vaccines, scientists said...

https://turkiyenewspaper.com/health/23606

via
Roger Seheult, MD @RogerSeheult | 5:20 PM · May 27, 2024 (X):
Kashif Pirzada, MD @KashPrime | 5:32 PM · May 27, 2024 (X):

US and Europe ramp up efforts for H5N1 bird flu vaccines
Health
Yusuf Uluçam | 2024-05-27

The United States and Europe are taking steps to acquire or manufacture H5N1 bird flu vaccines that could be used to protect at-risk poultry and dairy workers, veterinarians and lab technicians, government officials said, moves influenza experts say could curb the threat of a pandemic.

U.S officials last week said they were moving bulk vaccine from CSL Seqirus (CSL.AX), that closely matches the current virus into finished shots that could provide 4.8 million doses of vaccine. European health officials told Reuters they were in talks to acquire CSL's prepandemic vaccine.

Canadian health officials said they have met with GSK (GSK.L), maker of Canada's seasonal flu shots, to discuss acquiring and manufacturing a prepandemic bird flu vaccine once its seasonal flu production capacity is freed up.

Other countries, including the U.K., are discussing how to proceed on prepandemic vaccines, scientists said.

https://turkiyenewspaper.com/health/23606
-------------------------------------------------

If, God forbid, HPAI H5N1 takes off, masks, isolation, ventilation etc. all should protect while we wait for vaxx, some of us longer than others, sounds like. :( Let's not forget Neomycin! As wild as it sounds, Yale's Akiko Iwasaki is a co-author on the study:

Tianyang Mao et al. 2024. Intranasal neomycin evokes broad-spectrum antiviral immunity in the upper respiratory tract. PNAS,
April 22, 2024. 121 (18) e2319566121 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2319566121 https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2319566121

FluTrackers.com @FluTrackers | 6:57 PM · May 28, 2024:
US - New Mexico: WOAH - 2 more feral cats found with #H5N1 that are "not directly associated with a known HPAI affected dairy farm or poultry farm." This is 2nd known state. South Dakota was the 1st one. https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/united-states/h5n1-tracking-af/new-mexico/98... ...
______________________________

Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @HelenBranswell | 1:00 PM · May 28, 2024:
.@USDA reports #H5N1 #birdflu in alpacas on an Idaho farm that had a poultry outbreak in March, the first detection of H5 in alpacas. This is the same virus that's been found in cows. Confirmed on May 16; not clear why USDA took so long to report. https://aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-dete...

H5N1 virus in latest human case has mutated, officials say
Maeve Cullinan | 28 May 2024

The slight evolution in the virus is associated with ‘adaptation to mammalian hosts’, according to the Centre for Disease Control*...

...Last week, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a new set of measures to encourage farmers to increase their monitoring efforts, so that health authorities can better understand how the virus is spreading.

The agency will provide up to $1,500 to any farm that implements a biosecurity plan, including “enhanced” measures for people travelling between dairy farms like vets, milk haulers, and technicians – although it is unclear exactly what those measures are.

USDA has also said it will cover the cost of H5N1 testing in cattle by up to $2,000, including additional expenses for shipping fees of samples to laboratories.

Meanwhile, meat from a dairy cow sent to slaughter was found to contain particles of the H5N1 avian influenza virus last week – sparking concern over the risk of transmission via the food supply.

USDA have stressed that the US meat supply is safe, but have encouraged meat-eaters to cook beef to an internal temperature of at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit – which is classified as ‘well done’.

The WHO still considers the risk to humans low but urged countries to rapidly share information to enable real-time monitoring of the situation to ensure preparedness as the virus continues to spread...

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/h5n1-virus-in-late...

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

*Technical Update: Summary Analysis of the Genetic Sequence of a Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus Identified in a Human in Michigan
CDC | Updated May 24, 2024

... The genome of the human virus from Michigan did not have the PB2 E627K change detected in the virus from the Texas case, but had one notable change (PB2 M631L) compared to the Texas case that is known to be associated with viral adaptation to mammalian hosts, and which has been detected in 99% of dairy cow sequences but only sporadically in birds... This change has been identified as resulting in enhancement of virus replication and disease severity in mice during studies with avian influenza A(H10N7) viruses... The remainder of the genome of A/Michigan/90/2024 was closely related to sequences detected in infected dairy cows and strongly suggests direct cow-to-human transmission. Further, there are no markers known to be associated with influenza antiviral resistance found in the virus sequences from the Michigan specimen and the virus is very closely related to two existing HPAI A(H5N1) candidate vaccine viruses that are already available to manufacturers, and which could be used to make vaccine if needed. Overall, the genetic analysis of the HPAI A(H5N1) virus detected in a human in Michigan supports CDC’s conclusion that the human health risk currently remains low...

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/spotlights/2023-2024/h5n1-technical-update-may-...

Penny-wise and pound-foolish...

Óscar A. Contreras @oscarcontrarius | 6:44 PM · May 28, 2024:
Writer, copy editor, social media manager and video producer @DenverChannel.

NEW: The number of dairy workers being monitored for #H5N1 in Colorado has increased to 113, after the state's two most recent outbreaks potentially exposed 43 additional workers.

Because they have not reported symptoms of #birdflu, "they have not met criteria to be tested" per CDC guidelines, the CDPHE tells me.

Emergence and Evolution of H5N1 Bird Flu
CDC | accessed 5/29/2024
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/communication-resources/bird-flu-origin-infogra...

Infographic (https://x.com/ejustin46/status/1795688219331224056/photo/1)

Danielle Beckman @DaniBeckman | 5:26 PM · May 29, 2024:
Neuroscientist working with primates 🐒. PharmD with an MS in Biophysics and a PhD in Biological Chemistry. Microscopy lover 🧠🔬 . {Sacrament, CA}

Vaccination against #H5N1 will start in Finland in June. But this will not happen anytime soon in the U.S.
Most flu vaccines are still developed using eggs.

"For the U.S. alone, it would take hens laying 900,000 eggs every single day for nine months," according to @RickABright {Practical, Innovative, Hyper-focused on saving lives. Immunologist, Virologist, Pandemic Nemesis. DC}
And that's only if the chickens don't get infected.

https://cbsnews.com/news/bird-flu-vaccine-chicken-eggs-researching-alternatives/

And is not looking promising...

"The companies that make the cell-based influenza vaccines, CSL Seqirus and Sanofi, also have billions invested in egg-based production lines that they aren't eager to replace. And it's hard to blame them, said Nicole Lurie, HHS' assistant secretary for preparedness and response under President Barack Obama who is now an executive director of CEPI, the global epidemic-fighting nonprofit."

QUOTE
CoronaHeadsUp @CoronaHeadsUp | 4:18 AM · May 29, 2024;
The most important pandemic stories from around the globe. Proudly suppressed and deamplified by Twitter since 2020.

Finland: Human vaccinations for bird flu to start in June 2024
Which vaccine will be used isn't mentioned in the report.
H/t @EmilBergholtz {Professor working on complex and quantum systems in Stockholm.}

{Finnish}
http://Svenska.yle.fi
https://svenska.yle.fi/a/7-10057549

Text excerpt English (https://x.com/CoronaHeadsUp/status/1795731518880657492/photo/1)

Thomas P. Peacock and Wendy S. Barclay 2024. Mink farming poses risks for future viral pandemics. Opinion. PNAS July 19, 2023
120 (30) e2303408120 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2303408120
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2303408120#con2

Evidence of Risk
Driving Mammalian Adaptation

"We strongly urge governments to also consider the mounting evidence suggesting that fur farming, particularly mink, be eliminated in the interest of pandemic preparedness."

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

Kevin S Kuchinski et al. 2024. Detection of a reassortant* swine- and human-origin H3N2 influenza A virus in farmed mink in British Columbia, Canada. BioRxiv 27 May 2024 doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.05.27.596080 https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.05.27.596080v1

Preprint not yet reviewed.

Abstract
In December 2021, influenza A viruses (IAV) were detected in a population of farmed mink in British Columbia, Canada. Based on genomic sequencing and phylogenetic analysis, these IAVs were subtyped as H3N2s that originated from reassortment of swine H3N2 (clade 1990.4h), human seasonal H1N1 (pdm09), and swine H1N2 (clade 1A.1.1.3).
This reassortant has been subsequently observed in swine in several Midwest American states, as well as in swine and turkeys in Ontario, suggesting its spillover into farmed mink in British Columbia was incidental to its broader dissemination in North American swine populations.
These detections reaffirm the need for extensive genomic surveillance of IAVs in swine populations to monitor reassortments that might become public health concerns. They also highlight the need for closer surveillance of IAVs in mink to preserve animal health, protect agricultural interests, and monitor potential zoonotic threats.

Discussion
Our investigation could not conclude how these mink became exposed to swine-origin IAVs. Additional modes of transmission were considered, but they could not be assessed due to lack of available data. For instance, wild mustelids have been reported to visit mink farms and interact with captive animals resulting in the transmission of viruses30; it is possible that wild mustelids may have visited this farm unnoticed after becoming infected with IAVs on another premise where swine are raised.

...Ultimately, the limited extent of genomic surveillance for IAVs in local swine and poultry populations constrained our ability to identify a local source for the outbreak. It also restricted our ability to assess the plausibility of different transmission routes.
Although IAV is a reportable disease in swine and poultry in BC, the passive nature of surveillance programs combined with the potential for asymptomatic or unremarkable infections means that underreporting and under-detection is likely.

Indeed, only 4 contemporaneous, local swine-origin H3N2 IAV genomes were available for analysis, opportunistically detected through an unrelated research study, and these viruses were not related to the mink farm outbreak. This suggests that IAV diversity within swine populations is under-characterized.

This was further indicated by limited detections of IAVs with the same genome constellation as far afield as Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Ontario. This suggests that this IAV reassortant was able to disseminate across North America largely unnoticed.

{Flutracker: The uncomfortable corollary is that many other reassortant IAVs are likely emerging and disseminating unobserved within large, transnational, commercial swine populations. https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/internet-communication/avian-flu-diary/99121... }
_________________________________

* "Reassortment is the mixing of the genetic material of a species into new combinations in different individuals. Several different processes contribute to reassortment, including assortment of chromosomes, and chromosomal crossover." (Wikipedia)

US nears deal to fund Moderna's bird flu vaccine trial, FT reports
Reuters | May 30, 2024

The U.S. government is nearing an agreement to fund a late-stage trial of Moderna's (MRNA.O), mRNA bird flu vaccine...

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-nears-deal-fund-m...
--------------------------------------------

US close to deal to bankroll Moderna bird flu vaccine trial
Funding worth tens of millions of dollars would help to bolster stockpile as H5N1 cases spread
Oliver Barnes | 5/29/2024

{Government efforts to secure bird flu vaxx from Moderna, Pfizer -- and GSK, Sanofi and CSL Seqirus?}

https://www.ft.com/content/fad59eb1-2f34-47eb-b938-49ed12f12c45