Latest news with #Holeck
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Milk tested for bird flu reveals a scientific mystery
Dairy cows. (Photo by Lance Cheung/U.S. Department of Agriculture) Veterinary experts nationwide have a variety of hypotheses for new and puzzling test results from cow milk being analyzed for avian influenza. March marked one year since officials first reported Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza — H5N1 — among dairy cattle. Since then, bird flu has infected 996 herds across the country, including 19 cases in the last month in California and Idaho. New Mexico reported nine dairy herds in Curry County tested positive last April, and began milk testing its cattle in February following the rollout of a federal program. The most recent results from milk-testing programs revealed that while more than 95% of the 93 cow herds in the state tested negative, a small set of inconsistent positives — all from three Curry County herds infected last year — remain, according to New Mexico State Veterinarian Samantha Holeck. Enter the mystery: The cows themselves do not test positive, nor do they demonstrate the symptoms documented in the earlier avian flu outbreak, she said, such as huge drops in milk production. 'It's been a real challenge to try to understand how it continues to circulate in some of these herds,' Holeck said. New Mexico is partnering up with veterinarians in the U.S. Department of Agriculture to research the viral fragments found in the milk and sent samples to the federal National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa. 'I know we're a year into this situation now,' Holeck said, 'but it seems like there's still just so much to try to understand.' New Mexico isn't alone in experiencing the viral fragments, said Michael Payne, a food animal veterinarian at University of California, Davis, who noted there have been reports of similar persistent positives in quarantined herds there. 'I wouldn't diminish the importance of it being small,' Payne said. 'Yes, we're talking about low levels of virus and yes, we're talking about cows not getting sick, but it's important that we're not exactly sure where it's coming from, and that in and of itself merits examination.' He said more than $2 million dollars of research is being conducted in California on avian flu transmission across a dozen projects; including examining if it's transmitted by flies; blowing in from dust storms; or carried by birds outside of waterfowl. 'It will be critical that we figure out how the disease is moving and how it's changing,' Payne said. While scientists need to perform more research, Payne posited some possibilities for the detection of viral fragments: they could signify a different and less potent version of the virus; cooler weather might allow more viral fragments to survive in the bulk tanks, compared to the triple-digit temperatures in the fall; cows may have developed 'herd immunity' against the virus. 'It could be that much smaller numbers of cattle are being exposed and are becoming infected, which has resulted in a much, much lower level of virus that's being detected inside the bulk tanks,' Payne said. 'It's an area of active research.' Veterinarian Andrew Bowman, a molecular epidemiologist at Ohio State University, said laboratory tests' sensitivity could also be a factor: They may be picking up positives from environmental contamination in the tanks or on the farms. 'It doesn't take much; we're talking a few copies of the viral genome to be present in a sample to send it positive,' Bowman said. 'We can pick up a positive that's likely not a viable virus.' Since the development of HPAI in cows is so new, as is the method of transmission — where the virus replicates in the mammary glands that produce milk — he said the basic questions of the interactions between the virus, the host and the environment still need answers. 'Science is still very much in the infancy of what we know about avian influenza in cattle,' Bowman said. While scientists say it's important to unravel the mystery of the viral fragments to better understand how the virus might change or spread in dairy cows, they also emphasize that risk to the public from avian influenza remains low. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports transmission of avian flu can occur from contact with milk from infected cows; eating, drinking or inhaling droplets contaminated with live virus; touching the live or dead bodies of infected animals. Thus far, the CDC has no documented human-to-human transmission. As of April 1, 70 people had contracted H5N1, mostly California farmworkers. Most milk sold in the U.S. is heated to a temperature to kill bacteria and viruses, called pasteurization. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration tested milk products in 17 states and, finding no live viruses, reported that 'pasteurization is effective at inactivating H5N1, and that the commercial, pasteurized milk supply is safe.' Federal officials, however, warn that unpasteurized milk, also called raw milk, is unsafe to drink. Research from the National Institutes of Health in June using infected raw milk from New Mexico found that the H5N1 virus had survived for at least five weeks in refrigerated conditions. Further, mice that consumed the raw milk showed signs of illness, which researchers suggest indicates drinking raw milk can transmit the virus to other organisms. Holeck emphasized that New Mexico milk is safe. 'For dairies, it's standard routine if they have sick cows for any reason, not just [avian flu], that milk is always diverted out from the milk supply, it doesn't enter commerce,' she said.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
New Mexico milk tests for bird flu reveal scientific mystery
Quality control expert inspecting milk in the laboratory. (Getty Images) Veterinary experts nationwide have a variety of hypotheses for new and puzzling test results from cow milk being analyzed for avian influenza — including in New Mexico. March marked one year since officials first reported Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza — H5N1 — among dairy cattle. Since then, bird flu has infected 996 herds across the country, including 19 cases in the last month in California and Idaho. New Mexico reported nine dairy herds in Curry County tested positive last April, and began milk testing its cattle in February following the rollout of a federal program. The most recent results from milk-testing programs revealed that while more than 95% of the 93 cow herds in the state tested negative, a small set of inconsistent positives — all from three Curry County herds infected last year — remain, according to New Mexico State Veterinarian Samantha Holeck. Enter the mystery: The cows themselves do not test positive, nor do they demonstrate the symptoms documented in the earlier avian flu outbreak, she said, such as huge drops in milk production. 'It's been a real challenge to try to understand how it continues to circulate in some of these herds,' Holeck said. New Mexico is partnering up with veterinarians in the U.S. Department of Agriculture to research the viral fragments found in the milk and sent samples to the federal National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa. 'I know we're a year into this situation now,' Holeck said, 'but it seems like there's still just so much to try to understand.' New Mexico isn't alone in experiencing the viral fragments, said Michael Payne, a food animal veterinarian at University of California, Davis, who noted there have been reports of similar persistent positives in quarantined herds there. 'I wouldn't diminish the importance of it being small,' Payne said. 'Yes, we're talking about low levels of virus and yes, we're talking about cows not getting sick, but it's important that we're not exactly sure where it's coming from, and that in and of itself merits examination.' He said more than $2 million dollars of research is being conducted in California on avian flu transmission across a dozen projects; including examining if it's transmitted by flies; blowing in from dust storms; or carried by birds outside of waterfowl. 'It will be critical that we figure out how the disease is moving and how it's changing,' Payne said. While scientists need to perform more research, Payne posited some possibilities for the detection of viral fragments: they could signify a different and less potent version of the virus; cooler weather might allow more viral fragments to survive in the bulk tanks, compared to the triple-digit temperatures in the fall; cows may have developed 'herd immunity' against the virus. 'It could be that much smaller numbers of cattle are being exposed and are becoming infected, which has resulted in a much, much lower level of virus that's being detected inside the bulk tanks,' Payne said. 'It's an area of active research.' Veterinarian Andrew Bowman, a molecular epidemiologist at Ohio State University, said laboratory tests' sensitivity could also be a factor: They may be picking up positives from environmental contamination in the tanks or on the farms. 'It doesn't take much; we're talking a few copies of the viral genome to be present in a sample to send it positive,' Bowman said. 'We can pick up a positive that's likely not a viable virus.' Since the development of HPAI in cows is so new, as is the method of transmission — where the virus replicates in the mammary glands that produce milk — he said the basic questions of the interactions between the virus, the host and the environment still need answers. 'Science is still very much in the infancy of what we know about avian influenza in cattle,' Bowman said. While scientists say it's important to unravel the mystery of the viral fragments to better understand how the virus might change or spread in dairy cows, they also emphasize that risk to the public from avian influenza remains low. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports transmission of avian flu can occur from contact with milk from infected cows; eating, drinking or inhaling droplets contaminated with live virus; touching the live or dead bodies of infected animals. Thus far, the CDC has no documented human-to-human transmission. As of April 1, 70 people had contracted H5N1, mostly California farmworkers. Most milk sold in the U.S. is heated to a temperature to kill bacteria and viruses, called pasteurization. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration tested milk products in 17 states and, finding no live viruses, reported that 'pasteurization is effective at inactivating H5N1, and that the commercial, pasteurized milk supply is safe.' Federal officials, however, warn that unpasteurized milk, also called raw milk, is unsafe to drink. Research from the National Institutes of Health in June using infected raw milk from New Mexico found that the H5N1 virus had survived for at least five weeks in refrigerated conditions. Further, mice that consumed the raw milk showed signs of illness, which researchers suggest indicates drinking raw milk can transmit the virus to other organisms. Holeck emphasized that New Mexico milk is safe. 'For dairies, it's standard routine if they have sick cows for any reason, not just [avian flu], that milk is always diverted out from the milk supply, it doesn't enter commerce,' she said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
New Mexico initiates milk testing program for avian flu this week
Dairy cows gather at a farm on July 5, 2022 in Visalia, California. (Photo by) New Mexico veterinary and agriculture officials will begin testing milk this week for a variant of avian influenza passing among dairy cows and raising concerns of spread to humans. New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte told Source NM that the program allows officials to detect the virus before cows may be symptomatic. 'The milk testing program is an opportunity for us to lean forward in identifying if there's any issues with [Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza] in New Mexico, be able to isolate it and basically help the dairy farmers recover sooner rather than later,' Witte said between committee meetings at the Roundhouse. In December, federal officials announced a milk-testing program and asked states to either create their own or join the U.S. Department of Agriculture program. New Mexico opted to conduct its own, according to State Veterinarian Samantha Holeck. This variant of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) called H5N1 TK This flu has been found in a variety of animals, including dolphins, sea otters and foxes. It has devastated seal populations and killed tens millions of wild birds and poultry across the world. In April, the virus was found in dairy cows for the first time ever, including in nine New Mexico herds in Curry County, and a commercial chicken flock in Roosevelt County. The transmission of HPAI to humans has been sporadic in recent decades, occurring from contact with infected animals, not person to person. That changed in 2009, when the virus mutated after infecting birds and pigs and people, causing the H1N1 swine flu, which infected more than 60 million people in the U.S. Seven New Mexico herds are already enrolled in a weekly testing USDA program called the Dairy Herd Status Program. Holeck said the state program would monitor the other 98 licensed diaries in the state. 'We do have it built into our plan that if a herd has a detection, they will not be allowed to market milk unless it is pasteurized,' Holeck said in a phone call. New Mexico Department of Agriculture, which regulates the dairy industry, will have dairy inspection agents collect 10 milliliters of milk from bulk tanks before they are sent to processing plants as part of a weekly sampling routine. Each tank holds approximately 6,000 gallons of milk. The samples will be sent to the state diagnostic laboratory for testing. If a sample tests positive, it will be forwarded to the National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa. Results will not be published publicly, Holeck said; instead, farmers will be notified individually about positive cases, and positive herds will then need to enroll in the federal Protect the Herd program and test weekly. If they subsequently test negative, they can continue with the federal program or return to the state milk-testing program, she said. The plan is to test for the next three consecutive weeks, Holeck said. Depending on test results, the program may only test monthly, or continue testing each week. 'We've not put anything up publicly as far as identifying farms that are positive,' Holeck said. 'If we have detections, we have reported it down to the county level and we made that apparent early on in the outbreak, but that really really is probably as far as we'll report it publicly.' Egg prices have skyrocketed in recent weeks due to shortages from bird flu. When avian influenza is found, the entire flock is often slaughtered to prevent spread. But recent reports from federal health officials may have found evidence that the disease is spreading quietly to humans and is further widespread than previously thought. That development may have occurred during a lapse in federal reporting. In January, President Donald Trump ordered government agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop public health communications at least through the end of the month. That order came even as avian flu continued to spread to 16 states and close to 1,000 herds since the outbreak was first detected in April. Here's what to watch for avian flu symptoms in backyard flocks and other domestic animals Last week, when communications resumed, the CDC released a report about the spillover of the virus into humans, including in states with no documented outbreak in dairy cows. As of Feb. 14, 67 human cases, including 40 with dairy cattle exposure, have been confirmed. The new study examined blood samples from 150 cattle veterinarians from around the country. Researchers found three had antibodies to the H5N1 virus, indicating they were recent infections. None recalled experiencing symptoms or conjunctivitis — a reddening of the eyes — which was identified in other people with avian influenza. The report concluded that milk testing may be more effective in identifying infections in dairy cows. Federal health officials reportedly also have concerns about the infection of cats and the concern of spread to humans. According to the New York Times, the CDC posted data on that topic earlier this month, and then deleted the post. Of the 85 domestic cats found infected with avian influenza since 2022, seven were from New Mexico, all identified in 2024, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
