Latest news with #EmilyAnthes
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
CDC Report Suggests Bird Flu Is Spreading Undetected to Humans
Amidst surging respiratory illnesses and previously controlled diseases like tuberculosis making alarming comebacks, a new CDC report provides further evidence bird flu is spreading undetected to humans. The latest Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, whose publication was delayed, details three cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 in US veterinarians who work with cattle, with two of the cases lacking a clear source of exposure. None of the vets experienced any flu-like symptoms, and human-to-human spread is still undetected, but researchers are concerned this ability may only be a few genetic mutations away. Instead, these cases were detected through antibody tests of 150 veterinarians working across 46 US states in September, revealing bird flu is occurring beyond known zones of infection. One of the veterinarians who tested positive works with livestock in Georgia and South Carolina; neither state has reported bird flu cases in their dairy herds. "There are clearly infections happening that we're missing," Emory University virologist Seema Lakdawala told Emily Anthes at the New York Times. Transmission of H5N1 through cow milk has now been experimentally confirmed. In light of all this, health officials are urging all states to join the national milk testing program. As with any fast-mutating virus, each lapse in containment gives the disease more chances to test random mutations, increasing its opportunity to stumble upon one that will allow it to spread between humans. "If cases are occurring more frequently than detected in humans, we risk missing small changes that allow the virus to begin to spread much more easily in humans," University of Nebraska infectious disease researcher Lauren Sauer told NPR. The first case of human H5N1 in Nevada was reported last week, bringing the total known human cases in the US up to 68. Nevada has also just detected a new H5N1 strain in cows, D1.1, that may be better suited to replicating within mammal cells. "An important part of stopping the transmission of viruses is to track them," Emory University epidemiologist Jodie Guest explained after the US's first human H5N1 death was confirmed on 6 January 2025. But delays in information sharing due to the freeze on communications from some federal health agencies make this already challenging task even more difficult. The removal of CDC data already prompted now-contradicted fears about H5N1 cat-to-human transmissions. KFF Health News reports dairy workers infected cats instead, likely with their work clothing, but this information is still to be released. Data from these health agencies can't currently be accessed elsewhere like they once could. "CDC right now is not reporting influenza data through the WHO global platforms, FluNet [and] FluID, that they've been providing information [on] for many, many years," WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove said in a media brief. "We are communicating with them, but we haven't heard anything back." Cases of cat-to-human transmission have occurred with older bird flu strains, but none so far with H5N1. Two more pet cats have been euthanized with the disease after eating raw pet food in Oregon. Meanwhile, health officials are urging us all to keep ourselves and pets away from raw dairy products, avoid feeding pets raw meat, avoid interacting with wildlife, and wear protective gear if handling potentially infected livestock. Signs of infection in animals include fever, drowsiness, lack of coordination, moving in circles, a head tilt, and/or an inability to stand or fly, and should be reported to local authorities. The CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report can be read here. Intense Flu Surge Gripping The US Is The Worst in Years, CDC Says Cars Make One Thing Even More Toxic Than Diesel Fumes, Study Reveals Exercise Boosts Cognition For People With ADHD, Study Reveals
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
New Strain of Bird Flu in Nevada Reveals a Concerning Mutation
An emerging strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza has spilled over from wild birds to dairy cows in the state of Nevada, and officials at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and some scientists are concerned by a mutation they are seeing. The viral variant, called genotype D1.1, is different to the strain that first started infecting dairy cows in Texas in March of 2023, called B3.13, which has wreaked havoc across nearly 1,000 herds in the US so far. D1.1 is the "current predominant genotype in migratory wild birds", according to the USDA, and it is responsible for a few serious human cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). These include a near-fatal case involving a teen in Canada and the first and only human death related to bird flu in North America thus far, involving a person over the age of 65 from Louisiana. Until now, D1.1 had not jumped from birds to cows. "This is not what anyone wanted to see," evolutionary biologist Louise Moncla from the University of Pennsylvania told The New York Times reporters Emily Anthes and Apoorva Mandavilli. "We need to now consider the possibility that cows are more broadly susceptible to these viruses than we initially thought." The virus identified in Nevada dairy cattle is closely related to those in migratory wild birds, but it showed a key mutation that may make it easier to replicate inside of mammalian cells. The adaptation is not found in the B3.13 genotype, but it has been found in some human cases of bird flu. "Investigations are ongoing to fully characterize this event," reads the USDA brief. "The Nevada Department of Agriculture acted quickly, by first rapidly enrolling in the National Milk Testing Strategy to initiate active surveillance, and then to identify and quarantine the affected dairies before cattle movements could further transmit this virus beyond the local area." The National Milk Testing Strategy was set up by the USDA in December 2024 by Federal Order to monitor the spread of avian influenza among dairy cows across the country, and to stop infected milk or dairy cows from moving between states. But cows in Nevada didn't get sick from an out-of-state neighbor. The threat probably came from above. While these cows can infect humans, especially via their milk, there is still no evidence that the H5N1 virus can spread from human to human, and for now, officials at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have deemed the risk to most people low. That said, some scientists and public health officials, including those at the World Health Organization (WHO), are taking the idea of a future human pandemic seriously, and they are watching the H5N1 mutations very carefully. Recently, some virologists have claimed the risk of a human pandemic from HPAI is rising as the pathogen spends more time in mammal bodies. While it's true that genotype D1.1 has caused more severe human cases than B3.13, influenza virologist Seema Lakdawala from Emory University told Max Kozlov at Nature in late January these are small sample sizes that we can't learn much from. At least 66 human cases of bird flu have been recorded in the US since 2024, and we still don't know enough about what makes each viral variant more or less dangerous to our species as a whole. The CDC's last statement on the bird flu outbreak was published on January 17, 2025. Given the Trump administration's current freeze on communications from some federal health agencies, it is unknown if or when the CDC will address the newly identified spillover event in Nevada. The USDA says it will continue sharing its data with the CDC and the National Center for Biotechnology Information within seven days of analysis. Radical Study Proposes a Single Cause to Explain Alzheimer's Disease Can a Supplement Really Help You Control Your Pesky Eye Floaters? Revealed: Women Face Much Higher Risk of Long COVID, But Why?
