Dr. Nirav Shah, principal deputy director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ), claims that there is not enough testing for bird flu in the US for people and animals. However, he is wary of pushing the issue and risking damage to trust between farm workers and owners.
” We would like to be doing more testing”, Shah said. ” We’d like to be testing particularly not only clinical workers, but somebody on a plantation who is exposed”.
But, Shah said, “right then we want to be in a position where we’re building trust with fields and farm staff”.
For the general public, the risk is also small, the CDC says. However, the risks are greater for agricultural employees who come into contact with wildlife and possibly the people who live close to them.
The CDC is “preparing for the chance” that the virus may progress to spread more easily among people, according to a report published on Wednesday.
Shah advocated the use of personal protective equipment, but he made no mention of the potent pictures for farm workers, who are now the most susceptible to contracting the highly infectious bird flu H5N1.
A land worker in Michigan who carefully worked with tired cows was the third test positive, according to US officials last year.
Unlike the earlier two cases, where infection ( or “pink eye” ) was the only symptom, this individual experienced respiratory ailments standard for the virus – a sneeze, congestion, sore throat and wet eyes.
Shah made a point of pointing out that these signs do n’t indicate that the virus is evolving. The 888 people who have tested positive for H5N1 since 2003 have experienced these signs frequently.
” This disease, like some viruses, can manifest in more than one way. And for that reason, we may be call, no alarmed”, he said.
However, he claimed that having breathing signs increases the chance of passing the virus on to others, making monitoring and testing even more crucial than ever.
But just 44 citizens have been tested in 2024, according to the CDC.
Although officials believe there are likely cases that are flying under the radar as a result of the lack of tests, they are carefully analyzing data from influenza surveillance techniques, and no red flags have been spotted so far. We have n’t found any differences in the markers used to determine whether a herd has affected herds, such as those in emergency rooms,” Shah said.
” Our flu system is powerful, and it’s significant to explore the ways in which it differs from our Covid infrastructure”, he said. There are tests conducted throughout the nation, a fine vaccination candidate for this strain is being developed, and a robust influenza monitoring system has already been established.
” That said, we’d like to be doing more”, he continued.
Some states are currently testing the heart of dairy farm staff to determine how many people have H5N1 antibodies, which may give scientists a better sense of how widespread the disease is. ” We’ve done these studies in poultry]workers ] over the years. We’d like to replicate them now in dairy farm workers”, Shah said.
Officials have also made eye swabs in test kits to check for conjunctivitis more accessible. Instead of going to the CDC, these eye swabs may now be tested at neighborhood labs.
” Now we do n’t wait until these tests are confirmed]by the CDC ] before public health action is taken”, Shah said.
H5N1 continues spreading among farms, including poultry operations, with 4.2 million egg- laying chickens killed on a farm in Iowa after the virus was detected.
Alpacas in Idaho tested positive on May 16 following an outbreak among poultry on the same farm, indicating that the highly pathogenic flu may be spreading from cows to poultry to other livestock, potentially accumulating mutations.
The second test positive for the US bird flu outbreak this year revealed a mutation that may increase the spread of the virus among mammals, according to genetic sequencing.
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The third case’s genomic analysis has not yet been made public.
Health officials have not yet announced additional funding for this outbreak besides the$ 101 million that the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration ( USDA ) announced in May despite the US Department of Agriculture’s announcement last week to provide an additional$ 824 million in funding for livestock.
Part of the USDA funding has included up to$ 2, 000 a month to farms for providing personal protective equipment, or PPE, such as N95 respirators, face shields and goggles.
The CDC has requested that states use their existing supplies as well as the strategic national stockpile to distribute personal protective equipment to farm workers.
” Thankfully, there’s quite a lot of PPE available out there. The current task is merely connecting those with PPE with those who require it, Shah said.
However, officials are aware of the inherent challenges, such as the wet dairy farming and the summer heat, that come with wearing an N95 mask on a farm.
” We want our workers to be maximally protected, while at the same time not compromising their health and safety because they’re overheating”, Shah said.
An H5N1 vaccine that appears to be well matched to this strain has been ordered by US officials. Flu vaccines are developed in a few months, and new formulations go through regulatory approval or authorization procedures.
Officials have avoided revealing who might receive the vaccines ‘ priority.
” There is not right now a recommendation to vaccinate farm workers”, Shah said. ” Of course, it’s under discussion. As scientists, as scientific organizations, we are always discussing what might be coming next and evaluating the pros and cons of that”.
Shah emphasized the value of community trust in public health, particularly given that H5N1 is a new livestock disease. Poultry producers, for example, have built up relationships with officials and regulators over decades of bird flu outbreaks.
According to Shah,” trust is the most crucial tool you have in your toolbox in an outbreak setting.”
” When H5 became a phenomenon in the poultry industry, it was not overnight that poultry farm owners, operators, as well as workers were ready to work with public health entities – that relationship took time to develop”, Shah said. ” The same thing is happening right now.”
That means being clear about what testing does and does n’t entail, and assuring the privacy of workers, he said.
” It’s not something that happens overnight, but we have made progress with farms and farm owners. Instead of trying to overplay our role and undermine the trust we’ve built up so far, we want to keep doing that.
