A(H5N1) Bird Flu Outbreak in US Cattle, Chickens | Second Human Infection From Outbreak Confirmed 22 May

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H5N1 bird flu virus particles found in pasteurized milk but FDA says commercial milk supply appears safe

Testing conducted by the Food and Drug Administration on pasteurized commercially purchased milk has found genetic evidence of the H5N1 bird flu virus, the agency confirmed Tuesday. But the testing, done by polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, cannot distinguish between live virus or fragments of viruses that could have been killed by the pasteurization process.

The agency said it has been trying to see if it could grow virus from milk found to contain evidence of H5N1, which is the gold standard test to see if there is viable virus in a product. The lengthy statement the agency released does not explicitly say FDA laboratories were unable to find live virus in the milk samples, but it does state that its belief that commercial, pasteurized milk is safe to consume has not been altered by these findings.

H5N1 bird flu virus particles found in pasteurized milk but FDA says commercial milk supply appears safe

Testing conducted by the FDA on pasteurized commercially purchased milk has found genetic evidence of the H5N1 bird flu virus, the agency confirmed Tuesday.

www.statnews.com

 

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Early tests of H5N1 prevalence in milk suggest U.S. bird flu outbreak in cows is widespread

Andrew Bowman, a veterinary epidemiologist at Ohio State University, had a hunch. He had been struck by the huge amounts of H5N1 virus he’d seen in milk from cows infected with the bird flu and thought that at least some virus was getting off of farms and going downstream — onto store shelves.

He knew the Food and Drug Administration was working on its own national survey of the milk supply. But he was impatient. So he 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 samples, he told STAT.

Early tests of H5N1 prevalence in milk suggest U.S. bird flu outbreak in cows is widespread

The prevalence of H5N1 genetic material in purchased milk products suggests the bird flu outbreak is far more widespread in cows than official counts indicate.

www.statnews.com

 

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CDC Reports Second Human Case of H5 Bird Flu Tied to Dairy Cow Outbreak

May 22, 2024 – A human case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5) (“H5 bird flu”) virus infection in the United States has been identified in the state of Michigan. This is the second case associated with an ongoing multistate outbreak of A(H5N1) in dairy cows.

As with the case in Texas, the individual is a worker on a dairy farm where H5N1 virus has been identified in cows. While a nasal swab from the person tested negative for influenza in Michigan, an eye swab from the patient was shipped to CDC and tested positive for influenza A(H5) virus, indicating an eye infection. Similar to the Texas case, the patient only reported eye symptoms. CDC has been watching influenza surveillance systems closely, particularly in affected states, and there has been no sign of unusual influenza activity in people, including in syndromic surveillance.

Based on the information available, this infection does not change CDC’s current H5N1 bird flu human health risk assessment for the U.S. general public, which the agency considers to be low. However, this development underscores the importance of recommended precautions in people with exposure to infected or potentially infected animals. People with close or prolonged, unprotected exposures to infected birds or other animals (including livestock), or to environments contaminated by infected birds or other animals, are at greater risk of infection.

CDC Newsroom

Press releases, advisories, telebriefings, transcripts and archives.

www.cdc.gov

 

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Jesus EYE SWAB.... Gaaah

 

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Jesus EYE SWAB.... Gaaah

They have to really get back there, as well…