Paul Malarik Jr., MD’s Post

New Post: Bird flu on the move. Here are the different strains around the world – National - https://lnkd.in/gM9NTBxB Avian influenza, or bird flu, has public health officials on alert after an unprecedented spread in dairy cows in the United States this year. Four dairy workers have also tested positive in the country. A particularly severe variant of the H5N1 strain has been spreading around the world in animals since 2020, causing lethal outbreaks in commercial poultry and sporadic infections in other species from alpacas to house cats. Until this year, it had never infected cows.Different bird flu strains have been found in Australia and Mexico in humans, while different H5 subtypes are also present around the world in both animals and humans, in countries including China and Cambodia. 1:36 Infectious disease physicians issue bird flu guidance for Canada Most of the human cases reported exposure to poultry, live poultry markets, or dairy cattle prior to infection, but scientists are worried the virus could mutate in ways that make it more easily spread from person-to-person, which could spark a pandemic. The World Health Organization says the risk to people is low at this point. Story continues below advertisement Below are occurrences of varying types of the bird flu virus that have been found in humans this year.The first known cases of infected dairy cattle occurred in Texas in March, and is now in dairy herds in 12 states. The U.S. Agriculture Department said tests so far indicate that the virus detected in cows is the same H5N1 virus affecting wild birds and commercial poultry flocks. The four dairy workers who have tested positive for the virus this year had mild symptoms such as conjunctivitis, or pink eye.The H5N1 virus in the United States belongs to the clade 2.3.4.4b, genotype B3.13, a genotype detected only in North America so far, the European Food Safety Agency said in a scientific report. 2:26 Health Matters: Fourth U.S. dairy worker contracts bird flu A resident of Mexico died with the first known cases of H5N2 avian influenza in humans, the WHO said on June 5. Mexico’s government said chronic illness, rather than bird flu, was the cause of death. The person had no known exposure to animals. Story continues below advertisement The WHO on June 7 said a child with H5N1 bird flu reported by Australia had traveled to Kolkata, India. Genetic sequencing showed the virus was a subtype of H5N1 and part of a strain that circulates in Southeast Asia and has b

Interesting read in Farm Progress on the recent detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in dairy cows in Texas and Kansas, This development requires several crucial considerations for the agriculture and dairy industry, especially in terms of disease management and public health safety. I'd love to hear your perspectives on how the industry can navigate these challenges, the impact on dairy production, and the broader implications for food safety and animal health. What are your thoughts? #Agriculture #DairyFarming #AnimalHealth #FoodSafety #Biosecurity

Bird Flu Cases Among Colorado Poultry Workers Three poultry workers in northeast Colorado are presumed to have contracted bird flu while working at an egg-laying facility amid an outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza. This strain has been circulating in wild birds and has also affected dairy cows across multiple states, according to the CDC. Key Points: Outbreak Location: An egg-laying facility in northeast Colorado. Health Impact: Workers exhibited mild symptoms such as conjunctivitis (pink eye) and respiratory infections; none required hospitalization. Cause: Direct exposure to infected poultry during depopulation efforts. Broader Context: The U.S. is seeing a rise in human cases of bird flu. This situation underscores the need for stringent safety measures in poultry handling to prevent the spread of avian influenza to humans. #BirdFlu #PublicHealth #Colorado 🌍🐔👨⚕️ https://lnkd.in/dP7SjZF3

Flu news by RSM Consulting Cows: CA is up to 461 affected herds this morning; national total is 675 herds. Still no clarity surrounding how the virus is spreading. Raw milk, which is sold in stores in California, has tested positive for H5 by RT-PCR and is recalled. This is 0% surprising to me and was bound to happen. RT-PCR does not differentiate between live and dead virus, virus isolation is required, so I’m interested to see if they performed VI. I would not personally drink raw milk having been a clinical dairy vet for several years, but some folks feel passionately about it. Those that do should be aware of the inherent pathogenic risks (Listeria, Coxiella, Salmonella, E.coli, H5, etc). PLEASE don’t feed raw milk to children. Birds: BC is up to 54 outbreaks in approximately 5 weeks. The migratory birds are moving the D1 virus. Hopefully the outbreak in BC has peaked, we will see.  We continue to see infections popping up in backyard poultry. Another 2 mil more layers in Cali confirmed yesterday. Total is 6 million layers in CA alone (half). Humans: The teenager in BC is still in critical condition, perhaps on life support, with very small improvements according to the news. This teenager is infected with D1.1 (non-bovine origin). Still no word on the toddler in San Francisco regarding genotype. Speculation surrounding whether this was a “true” infection, but CDC did confirm it. We will see if there is a genotype that is ever announced or simply not enough genetic material to determine it. I’ve been asked a few times recently, if I could wave a magic wand or talk to the new administration, what would I ask for to address this outbreak.  1.      Transparency. Timely access to genotype data for, at the very least, commercial poultry operation outbreaks. This allows for risk-based biosecurity strategies for other local commercial operations. Stop data hoarding. 2.      Monitoring. An anonymous nationalized system to routinely monitor all commercial species (cattle, poultry, swine) and perhaps wild mammal and bird H5 status in any given geography. This would provide insights into local risk for farms. This infrastructure would also be nice to have to tap into with future panzootics (let’s be honest folks…we’ll have them). 3.      Tools. A way to manage the susceptible populations (e.g. vaccines). I’ll write another post after this to talk about the hurdles but I believe the key to the dairy outbreak and future commercial poultry operations will be in MANAGING THE SUSCEPTIBLE POPULATIONS.  For instance, if we keep throwing kindling onto the fire (naïve animals) in an infected herd, the virus can hang around indefinitely and smolder.  4.      Public Health. A public health response in ALL states. This will be imperative to catching a human adapted H5 virus before it takes off. Perhaps H5 vaccines should be offered to those at highest risk, like in Finland. This is very similar to our AAAP flu taskforce statement (Link)

New Post: Bird flu spreads to dairy cows in Idaho, Michigan and New Mexico -A highly virulent bird flu first detected in dairy cows in Texas and Kansas this week has spread to additional herds, bringing the number of affected states to five and adding evidence the virus may be spreading cow-to-cow. The strain has been confirmed in Michigan, and presumptive positive tests have been reported from Idaho and... A highly virulent bird flu first detected in dairy cows in Texas and Kansas this week has spread to additional herds, bringing the number of affected states to five and adding evidence the virus may be spreading cow-to-cow. The strain has been confirmed in Michigan, and presumptive positive tests have been reported from Idaho and New Mexico, federal officials said Friday.Earlier in the day, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported incorrectly that presumptive positive tests had also been found in Ohio.The presence of the highly pathogenic avian influenza — commonly known as HPAI — has been confirmed in a Michigan dairy herd that recently received cows from Texas, according to a statement Friday from the USDA.The virus strain found in Michigan is similar to a strain confirmed in Texas and Kansas that appears to have been introduced by wild birds, the USDA statement said.“Spread of symptoms among the Michigan herd also indicates that HPAI transmission between cattle cannot be ruled out,” according to the USDA statement.Initial testing has not identified changes to the virus that would make it more transmissible to humans, according to the USDA.“While cases among humans in direct contact with infected animals are possible, this indicates that the current risk to the public remains low,” the agency statement said.Idaho officials announced Thursday that avian flu was detected at a dairy cattle farm in Cassia County after the facility recently imported livestock from another state that had identified HPAI in cows. It did not provide details.But in an interview, state veterinarian Scott Leibsle said avian flu was detected in the Idaho cattle after the farm imported cows from a Texas herd that had shown symptoms of HPAI.“Cow-to-cow transmission is definitely playing a role in how this disease progresses. To what extent, we don’t know yet,” Leibsle said. It’s clear that infected wild birds spread the disease to herds in Texas and Kansas, he said. “But the herd of cattle that came up from Texas to Idaho, the birds didn’t follow,” the state veterinarian said.Federal officials are monitoring closely and have advised veterinarians and producers to practice good biosecurity, test animals if they have to be moved, minimize animal movements and isolate sick cattle from the herd.The USDA, Food and Drug Administration, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating the illness among dairy cows, which is causing decreased milk production, low appetite and other symptoms.Federal officials are also working with stat

New Post: Bird flu spreads to dairy cows in Idaho, Michigan and New Mexico -A highly virulent bird flu first detected in dairy cows in Texas and Kansas this week has spread to additional herds, bringing the number of affected states to five and adding evidence the virus may be spreading cow-to-cow. The strain has been confirmed in Michigan, and presumptive positive tests have been reported from Idaho and... A highly virulent bird flu first detected in dairy cows in Texas and Kansas this week has spread to additional herds, bringing the number of affected states to five and adding evidence the virus may be spreading cow-to-cow. The strain has been confirmed in Michigan, and presumptive positive tests have been reported from Idaho and New Mexico, federal officials said Friday.Earlier in the day, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported incorrectly that presumptive positive tests had also been found in Ohio.The presence of the highly pathogenic avian influenza — commonly known as HPAI — has been confirmed in a Michigan dairy herd that recently received cows from Texas, according to a statement Friday from the USDA.The virus strain found in Michigan is similar to a strain confirmed in Texas and Kansas that appears to have been introduced by wild birds, the USDA statement said.“Spread of symptoms among the Michigan herd also indicates that HPAI transmission between cattle cannot be ruled out,” according to the USDA statement.Initial testing has not identified changes to the virus that would make it more transmissible to humans, according to the USDA.“While cases among humans in direct contact with infected animals are possible, this indicates that the current risk to the public remains low,” the agency statement said.Idaho officials announced Thursday that avian flu was detected at a dairy cattle farm in Cassia County after the facility recently imported livestock from another state that had identified HPAI in cows. It did not provide details.But in an interview, state veterinarian Scott Leibsle said avian flu was detected in the Idaho cattle after the farm imported cows from a Texas herd that had shown symptoms of HPAI.“Cow-to-cow transmission is definitely playing a role in how this disease progresses. To what extent, we don’t know yet,” Leibsle said. It’s clear that infected wild birds spread the disease to herds in Texas and Kansas, he said. “But the herd of cattle that came up from Texas to Idaho, the birds didn’t follow,” the state veterinarian said.Federal officials are monitoring closely and have advised veterinarians and producers to practice good biosecurity, test animals if they have to be moved, minimize animal movements and isolate sick cattle from the herd.The USDA, Food and Drug Administration, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating the illness among dairy cows, which is causing decreased milk production, low appetite and other symptoms.Federal officials are also working with stat

H5N1, or Avian Flu. The hazard lights are on. We need to be vigilant. This article - written by Donald McNeil Jr., a science journalist who has been covering pandemics for 30 years, and wrote a book about how societies manage pandemics - is asking US authorities to be more transparent and proactive in managing what might be another pandemic-in-waiting. Meanwhile, Canadian food safety authorities are ramping up their surveillance of the Canadian dairy production system by testing dairy cattle imported from the US, conducting random sampling of milk products sold at the retail level and continuing to provide assistance to farmers as they test their own animals. Food safety authorities on both sides of border are very clear: pasteurization of milk is 100% effective at killing all viruses in raw milk, including virus fragments. Milk sold at the retail level is safe for consumption. The concern, however, is for farmers who are handling raw milk in their cow barns and the risks that the virus might leap from animal to human in that manner. Again, so far, examples of this are rare and fairly well contained. In Canada, farmers are obligated to report any instance of H5N1 to health authorities. In addition, Canadian dairy farmers are ahead of their US colleagues in tracking the movement of animals from farm to farm, and the testing required. For those concerned about their food, this is one to continue to monitor closely. #food #avianflu #H5N1 #foodsafety

If you want to keep up on H5N1, make sure to follow and keep up with Dr. Russo and RSM Consulting! If I can add 1 more item to the wish list. Milk Processor Support - I keep hearing from vets and farmers, they are not willing to participate in surveillance. Concerned that a milk buyer may "drop them" if they are positive, they are understandably hesitant. I get it. Milk processors/buyers, left to their own devices, have historically tried to weaponize milk quality and animal welfare "requirements" when it suits them. A convenient way to manage supply contracts, procurement taking the easy way out. Not only unethical, it undermines the efforts of quality and animal welfare programs in the business. One could argue that any processor willing to take the same approach for H5N1 would be risking legal exposure. Drop 1 farm for H5N1 and you better be prepared to drop them all. It is one thing to drop 2% of your supply, 10-30%? Not so much. And if you think farmers won't find out you are being picky and choosey about who you drop, think again. H5N1 won't allow for messy grey areas like quality and animal welfare. And at this rate, it is coming to a farm near you, like it or not. The longer we wait on testing every farm, the larger the impact of this disease and the longer before we truly understand it and know best how to manage it. Milk processors need to commit to encouraging ALL farms to test and commit to NOT taking punitive action against farms that test + for H5N1. Processors NOT willing to do this are sending a clear signal that PROFIT matters more than PUBLIC HEALTH. Which milk processor is going to be the first to lead? What a great opportunity to show the world that you have the moral and business fortitude to do the right thing. I won't hold my breath. But I will keep hoping. #BeKind #BeAGoodNeighbor #H5N1

New Post: Bird flu spreads to dairy cows in Idaho, Michigan and New Mexico -A highly virulent bird flu first detected in dairy cows in Texas and Kansas this week has spread to additional herds, bringing the number of affected states to five and adding evidence the virus may be spreading cow-to-cow. The strain has been confirmed in Michigan, and presumptive positive tests have been reported from Idaho and... A highly virulent bird flu first detected in dairy cows in Texas and Kansas this week has spread to additional herds, bringing the number of affected states to five and adding evidence the virus may be spreading cow-to-cow. The strain has been confirmed in Michigan, and presumptive positive tests have been reported from Idaho and New Mexico, federal officials said Friday.Earlier in the day, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported incorrectly that presumptive positive tests had also been found in Ohio.The presence of the highly pathogenic avian influenza — commonly known as HPAI — has been confirmed in a Michigan dairy herd that recently received cows from Texas, according to a statement Friday from the USDA.The virus strain found in Michigan is similar to a strain confirmed in Texas and Kansas that appears to have been introduced by wild birds, the USDA statement said.“Spread of symptoms among the Michigan herd also indicates that HPAI transmission between cattle cannot be ruled out,” according to the USDA statement.Initial testing has not identified changes to the virus that would make it more transmissible to humans, according to the USDA.“While cases among humans in direct contact with infected animals are possible, this indicates that the current risk to the public remains low,” the agency statement said.Idaho officials announced Thursday that avian flu was detected at a dairy cattle farm in Cassia County after the facility recently imported livestock from another state that had identified HPAI in cows. It did not provide details.But in an interview, state veterinarian Scott Leibsle said avian flu was detected in the Idaho cattle after the farm imported cows from a Texas herd that had shown symptoms of HPAI.“Cow-to-cow transmission is definitely playing a role in how this disease progresses. To what extent, we don’t know yet,” Leibsle said. It’s clear that infected wild birds spread the disease to herds in Texas and Kansas, he said. “But the herd of cattle that came up from Texas to Idaho, the birds didn’t follow,” the state veterinarian said.Federal officials are monitoring closely and have advised veterinarians and producers to practice good biosecurity, test animals if they have to be moved, minimize animal movements and isolate sick cattle from the herd.The USDA, Food and Drug Administration, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating the illness among dairy cows, which is causing decreased milk production, low appetite and other symptoms.Federal officials are also working with stat