Is the bird flu coming back through a farm near you?
Right now, the answer is, “No.”
“We are aware, but not concerned,” said Jason Marks, who is Director of Management and Preparedness with the Peoria City/County Health Department. “There are no known cases in the state of Illinois.”
As of press time, there were just three cases of the H5N1 virus infecting humans in the United States. What’s concerning is this strain of Avian Flu has jumped species to cattle. The three individuals infected in the U.S. — one in Texas, two in Michigan — work in the dairy industry and caught the virus through contact with infected cows and/or their raw milk.
All three victims are alive. Two experienced eye irritation and one suffered respiratory symptoms.
Nationally, Marks reports that the H5N1 virus has been detected in several domestic animals, including poultry, dairy cattle, goats, cats, and llamas.
“It’s carried by birds,” he said. “Birds are mobile a lot more than other species.” Marks noted that “influenza mutates quite regularly” and there could be bigger spread of the virus during fall migrations.
The Illinois Department of Public Health advises increasing public awareness, especially among dairy farmers.
But the cattle and dairy farmers at the Peoria Riverfront Market one Saturday in June did not seem aware of this new bird flu at all. Responses ranged from complete indifference to “It’s crap, just like COVID was crap.”
Adam Rupp of Little Blue Farms was not aware of any “outbreak.” But Little Blue’s facilities in Morton and Mackinaw are, “small-scale farming” as opposed to a factory farm, he said. And the workers there take safety protocols seriously. “Each animal is treated with a human being,” Rupp said.
The virus has been detected in nine states — mostly in Texas and New Mexico and more recently Colorado — even though there’s a low risk to humans right now. The concern is that it’s been spreading rapidly from cow to cow for months as opposed to cow contact with an infected bird.
“Person-to-person infections would take us to the next level,” Marks said. “There is no evidence of that.”
Nevertheless, the federal government has put up almost $200 million to help get in front of any outbreak. The funds will go toward tracking and containing the virus as well as providing farmers with the necessary tests and biosecurity, according to The Associated Press. Reuters reports the feds are “nearing an agreement to fund a late-stage trial of Moderna’s bird flu vaccine.”
The World Health Organization reports infection in humans “can cause severe disease with a high mortality.”
We are nowhere close to pandemic status. Marks encourages that people get the flu shot and says precautions among the general public include “cover your cough, stay home if you are sick.”
Make sure your milk is pasteurized. Stay away from raw milk! Cook meats and eggs thoroughly.
“The majority of the awareness effort will be to make sure dairy farms are aware of these things,” said Marks, who reminds us to get good intelligence because science “changes every day. We get different information.
“Knowledge is power.”