Louisiana finds possible human case of bird flu
A resident of southwestern Louisiana was hospitalized with what appeared to be the state's first case of bird flu in a person, said state health officials. Sixty people in seven states have contracted mild cases of the viral disease this year, according to the CDC.
Reports of three new human cases of bird flu include California child
Arizona health officials said two workers employed at poultry farms have recovered from mild cases of bird flu while the public health agency in Marin County, north of San Francisco, said it was investigating a possible bird flu infection of a child. If confirmed by the CDC, the U.S. total for bird flu infections would rise to 61 people in eight states this year.
USDA orders testing nationwide for bird flu virus in milk fresh from the cow
The Agriculture Department will launch a testing program next week that looks for the bird flu virus in milk fresh from the farm to get a clearer picture of the prevalence of the H5N1 virus among U.S. dairy herds. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the tests would complement ongoing …
California finds bird flu virus in raw milk
Public health officials in California's Silicon Valley said tests found the bird flu virus in a container of raw milk purchased at a local store and warned consumers on Sunday not to consume the milk. The supplier, Raw Farm, of Fresno County, issued a recall of the batch of milk that was involved.
First human case of bird flu in Oregon, as U.S. total rises to 52
Public health officials confirmed six additional cases of bird flu infection of farmworkers, five in California and one in Oregon, raising the U.S. total to 52 this year. The Oregon infection was the first in the state and was tied to an outbreak of the H5N1 avian flu virus at an egg farm in Clackamas County, southeast of Portland. (No paywall)
Bird flu spreads among California dairy herds
Five of the six dairy herds infected with the H5N1 avian flu virus this month are in California, all in the past week and all in the Central Valley. State officials said those herds were part of a group of farms targeted for testing because of outbreaks in three other herds at the end of August.
Bird flu takes a summer break
Outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in poultry and dairy cattle have dropped off sharply in recent weeks, according to USDA databases. There was a similar but longer lull a year ago in bird flu, which has become the largest animal disease event in American agriculture, killing nearly 101 million birds in domestic flocks since it appeared in the United States in February 2022. (No paywall)
As bird flu spreads among dairy workers, OSHA’s hands are tied
In FERN's latest story, published with The New Republic, reporter Bryce Covert looks at the consequences for the current bird flu crisis of a 1976 congressional decision that undercut OSHA's ability to regulate the U.S. dairy industry.
Project would accelerate development of bird flu vaccine for humans
Drugmaker Sinergium Biotech, based in Argentina, will lead a project to accelerate the development of a human vaccine against the H5N1 avian flu virus, said the World Health Organization and the Medicines Patent Pool on Monday. The project is aimed at pharmaceutical companies in low- and middle-income nations and intended to bolster pandemic preparedness worldwide.
Poultry worker at second Colorado farm has bird flu
A farmworker on an egg farm in northeastern Colorado is the ninth person in the state, and the 12th in the nation, to be diagnosed with the H5N1 avian flu virus, said state public health officials. The new case was confirmed in Weld County, where six laborers were infected at a different farm in the past week.
Seventh poultry worker in Colorado with bird flu
An additional worker became infected with the H5N1 avian flu virus while culling sick hens at a Colorado egg farm, said state public health officials, raising the U.S. total of infected workers to 11, all with mild symptoms. Eight of the cases, seven involving poultry and one involving dairy, have occurred in Colorado.
With three new cases, Colorado leads U.S. in bird flu infections of humans
Three workers at a Colorado egg farm contracted mild cases of bird flu while culling an infected flock of chickens, said state public health officials. With the discovery, Colorado is home to four of the seven U.S. cases of bird flu in humans reported since April. (No paywall)
Colorado dairy worker had mild case of bird flu
A dairy farmworker in northeastern Colorado, who had direct exposure to sick cattle, was treated for a mild case of bird flu and has recovered, said state health officials. The male worker is the fourth person in the country — all employed on dairy farms — infected by the avian flu virus …
Moderna gets U.S. contract to develop bird flu vaccine
The government awarded a $176 million contract to Moderna to develop an mRNA-based vaccine to protect people from bird flu, said Health Secretary Xavier Becerra on Tuesday. Public health officials say the risk to the general population was low from the H5N1 avian flu virus, and there were no immediate plans to use the vaccine.
FDA says milk-processing practices kill H5N1 virus
A first-of-its-kind study that simulated commercial milk processing "found that the most commonly used pasteurization time and temperature requirements were effective at inactivating the H5N1 (avian flu) virus in milk," said the Food and Drug Administration. "These results establish that HTST (high temperature short time) pasteurization is effective at eliminating the virus from milk with a large margin of safety."
Few dairy farmers seek bird flu funds from USDA
Only a handful of U.S. farms — 18 in all — are accepting federal funds to quash the outbreak of the H5N1 avian flu virus among dairy herds that began three months ago, according to the Agriculture Department. (No paywall)
Little to no U.S. immunity to H5N1 avian flu virus, CDC says
Blood tests show "there is extremely low to no population immunity" among Americans to the H5N1 avian flu virus, said the Centers for Disease Control. Most of the population would be vulnerable if the virus mutated to become more readily contagious, said the CDC, but it has identified two candidate vaccines that would offer "good cross-protection" against it.
Iowa asks USDA to compensate farmers for cows culled due to H5N1 virus
The federal government should compensate dairy farmers who send dairy cattle to slaughter because of the H5N1 avian flu virus, said Iowa state Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig, in announcing the second outbreak in the state. At least 90 herds in 12 states from Wyoming to North Carolina have been infected since bird flu was discovered in cattle in Texas in March.