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)
Trump picks Kennedy, vaccine skeptic, for health secretary
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will head the Department of Health and Human Services in the new administration, said President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday. “For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to public health,” said Trump in announcing the nomination.
Bird flu in 7 percent of unprotected farmworkers exposed to infected dairy cows, says CDC
Farmworkers who are exposed to infected poultry or dairy cattle as part of their jobs should be tested for bird flu even if they show no symptoms, particularly if they did not wear protective equipment, said the Centers for Disease Control on Thursday. The CDC revised its safety guidelines after researchers reported that 7 percent of unprotected dairy workers carried antibodies in their blood indicating infection by the H5N1 avian flu virus.
Rural landslide is part of ‘historic realignment’ in Trump victory
President Trump rolled up 63 percent of the vote in rural America, a larger margin than in 2016, on the way to winning a second term in the White House on Tuesday. Farm groups offered to work with him on Wednesday to pass the new farm bill, now 14 months overdue, and to bring high costs under control.
Two additional cases of bird flu in West Coast farmworkers
Bird flu infections have been confirmed in a dairy worker in California and a poultry worker in Washington, raising the U.S. total to 46 people, said the Centers for Disease Control on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the USDA said tests indicated that migratory waterfowl were the source of H5N1 avian flu infections in two pigs on an Oregon farm.
Bird flu found in eight dairy herds in Utah, 15th state
The first round of mandatory milk testing in northern Utah identified bird flu infections in eight dairy herds, said the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food on Thursday. Utah is the 15th state to report the avian flu virus in dairy cattle since the disease was first identified in herds in Texas in March.
First U.S. case of bird flu in swine is found in Oregon
Agriculture officials culled all poultry and hogs on a small backyard farm in central Oregon following an outbreak of bird flu that included the first confirmed infection of the H5N1 virus in swine in the United States. There was no threat to the U.S. meat supply, said the Agriculture Department on Wednesday.
USDA confident of eradicating virus, although bird flu count keeps climbing
Thirty people have contracted bird flu from exposure to infected animals this year, and more cases are expected, said the Centers for Disease Control on Thursday. At the same briefing, the USDA said it was confident of eradicating the viral disease in dairy herds despite the ever-rising number of outbreaks in California.
Two more California dairy workers have bird flu
California now has 15 confirmed cases of bird flu in humans, all of them dairy farm workers, up from the previous count of 13, said the state Department of Public Health on Wednesday. “While the risk to the general public remains low, additional human cases of bird flu are expected to be identified and confirmed in California among individuals who have contact with infected dairy cattle.”
Five additional human cases of bird flu in California, more expected
With five new cases, California accounts for 11 of the 25 cases of human infection by the bird flu virus in the United States this year, said the Centers for Disease Control on Thursday. Additional cases were expected among individuals in contact with infected dairy cattle, said the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
Sales of antimicrobials for use in livestock are second lowest in a decade, says FDA
Drugmakers sold 24 million pounds of antimicrobials for use in food-bearing animals last year, a slight decline from the previous year and the second-lowest total in a decade, said the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday. Sales have declined sharply since the FDA shut down using the drugs to encourage weight gain in cattle, hogs, chickens, and turkeys.
Five California farmworkers have mild cases of bird flu, says state
On the same day the CDC confirmed the third human case of bird flu in California, state officials said Wednesday that they had identified two more possible infections, also farmworkers in the Central Valley. In less than six weeks, California has become the U.S. hot spot for bird flu, with one-third of all the infected dairy herds in the country and all of the human cases since Sept. 6.
California dairy worker has bird flu, first in the state
A dairy farm worker in California’s Central Valley with mild symptoms tested positive for the bird flu virus — the first case in the state and the 16th in the nation this year — said the California Department of Public Health on Thursday. The worker was being treated with antiviral medication and was staying home to recover.
EPA sets restrictions on use of chlorpyrifos
Makers of the insecticide chlorpyrifos will modify their product labels to reduce runoff and spray drift of the pesticide into the habitat of endangered species and to limit the areas of the country where the chemical is used, said the Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday. The EPA also said it would propose a regulation limiting the use of chlorpyrifos to 11 crops.
Global declaration calls for lower use of antimicrobials in agriculture
Nearly 200 United Nations member states, warned of the rising health threat of drug-resistant pathogens, approved a declaration on Thursday to step up their work to preserve the efficacy of disease-fighting medicines, reduce the death toll from antimicrobial resistance (AMR) by 10 percent, and “meaningfully reduce” antimicrobial use in agriculture by 2030.
Huge losses in food supply and human health if superbugs spread
Drug-resistant pathogens could throttle meat, dairy, and egg production and cause millions of additional human deaths by 2050 if the superbugs are not controlled, said researchers on Thursday. They called for increased funding worldwide to prevent the spread of antimicrobial resistance.
Drugs often used on livestock despite ‘raised without antibiotics’ label
Federal researchers found drug residues in one of every five cattle marketed as “raised without antibiotics” in samples collected last fall, said the Agriculture Department on Wednesday. The findings “underscore the need for more rigorous substantiation of such claims,” it said, in “strongly” encouraging — but not requiring — meat processors to routinely test for residues if they put a “no antibiotics ever” label on their meat.
USDA plans one-year test of culled dairy cows for H5N1 virus
At the same time that the FDA said a second round of tests showed pasteurization kills the bird flu virus in dairy products, the USDA said it would test beef from culled dairy cows for the H5N1 avian flu virus for the coming year. Nearly $2 million has been paid to dairy farmers since July 1 as compensation for milk production lost to bird flu.
Inspector general slams FDA handling of infant formula recall
The FDA lacked or had inadequate policies in place to identify risks to the infant formula supply chain when it received complaints about production at a plant in Sturgis, Michigan, said an inspector general’s report on Thursday. Months passed before the FDA warned consumers in February 2022 not to use some of the products made at the Abbott Laboratories plant, leading to a formula shortage.