The variety of California dairy herds reported to have outbreaks of H5N1 fowl flu has grown to eight.
Officers have refused to reveal the places of the contaminated herds, however have mentioned they’re in shut proximity someplace in California’s Central Valley — an 18,000-square-mile expanse that’s roughly the dimensions of Vermont and New Hampshire mixed.
They are saying they’re nonetheless investigating the supply of the virus, however at a information convention Thursday, federal officers mentioned genetic sequencing from the primary three outbreaks suggests the pressure is much like that seen in different states. They are saying it doesn’t seem to have been brought on by wild birds or animals.
“This is the same virus that we’ve detected in herds since the beginning of the emergence of H5N1 in dairy cows,” mentioned Eric Deeble, deputy underneath secretary for advertising and marketing and regulatory applications at the US Division of Agriculture. “Sequencing of the samples from the additional five premises will likely be completed later this week or over the weekend.”
He mentioned the California Division of Meals and Agriculture has been “conducting a very thorough traceback, and all the herds that have been detected in California to date have been through their investigation.”
There have been 201 herds contaminated by the virus throughout 14 states for the reason that outbreak was first reported in March.
State officers proceed to reassure the general public that the chance to the final inhabitants is low, and that pasteurized milk and dairy merchandise are protected for human consumption.
Deeble mentioned his company is within the technique of authorizing area security research for a H5N1 cow vaccine.
An company spokesman mentioned vaccine growth doesn’t recommend that the biosecurity protocols that the USDA and state governments have adopted have failed. Nor does it imply the virus is right here to remain.
“Vaccine development is one part of an overall strategy that includes enhanced and strengthened biosecurity efforts to contain the virus and help mitigate spread,” mentioned Will Clement, a USDA spokesman.
“Bovine vaccines may prove to be an important tool to eventually help eliminate the virus from the nation’s dairy cattle herd, but developing a vaccine requires many steps and it will take time to test, approve, and distribute a successful vaccine,” he mentioned. “This is why we have opened the pathway to vaccine field trials even as we continue to deploy all available efforts, including emphasizing biosecurity and mandating the testing lactating dairy cattle moving across state lines.”
As well as, federal well being officers say they haven’t been in a position to sequence the whole lot of the H5N1 pattern remoted from a human case in Missouri. That individual had no identified contact with dairy or poultry, and a preliminary investigation has not been in a position to decide the supply of an infection.
There have been no stories of contaminated dairy herds in Missouri.
“Right now, evidence points to this being a one off,” mentioned Nirav Shah, principal deputy director on the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention.
Shah mentioned the affected person, who was hospitalized with flu-like signs and has since recovered, had solely low ranges of the virus circulating by their physique. In consequence, sequencing has been tough.
Whereas officers can safely say the virus is of the H5 sub-type, they haven’t been in a position to sequence the N-part.
However the H5 half seems to resemble the H5 subtype in contaminated dairy cows.
“We’re throwing everything we’ve got at this, but ultimately, a full sequence may not be technically feasible because of the low concentration of viral RNA,” Shah mentioned.
