US pledges money and other aid to help track and contain bird flu on dairy farms https://t.co/4k5zt4E2QO
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 11, 2024
*Sigh*… It’s a start:
… The new funds include $101 million to continue work to prevent, test, track and treat animals and humans potentially affected by the virus known as Type A H5N1, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said. And they include about $98 million to provide up to $28,000 each to help individual farms test cattle and bolster biosecurity efforts to halt the spread of the virus, according to the Agriculture Department.
In addition, dairy farmers will be compensated for the loss of milk production from infected cattle, whose supply drops dramatically when they become sick, officials said. And dairy farmers and farm workers would be paid to participate in a workplace study conducted by the USDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
So far, farmers have been reluctant to allow health officials onto their farms to test cattle because of uncertainty about how it would affect their businesses, researchers have said. Also, farm workers, including many migrant workers, have been reluctant to be tested for fear of missing work or because they didn’t want to be tracked by the government…
The new spending comes more than six weeks after the first-ever detection of an avian bird flu virus in dairy cattle — and one confirmed infection in a Texas dairy worker exposed to infected cows who developed a mild eye infection and then recovered. About 33 people have been tested and another 260 are being monitored, according to the CDC…
This thread shows in stark terms what the cost of #H5N1 #birdflu can be for a dairy farm, & why the programs announced Friday to try to incentivize farmers to report outbreaks, restrict spread & allow public health to study conditions on the ground may not succeed. https://t.co/iMnFXpi6VF
— Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 (@HelenBranswell) May 14, 2024
Thread for nervous wonks:
Many people are wondering how we can monitor this H5N1 situation. We sequence the whole virome from wastewater, and, well, H5N1 started showing up in our samples. https://t.co/sQYffuVZGP
1/ pic.twitter.com/do21xsT74z— Mike Tisza (@MikeTisza) May 11, 2024
CDC launches new influenza A wastewater dashboard, states report more H5N1 in dairy herds
The tracker will help with surveillance, but doesn't distinguish the influenza A subtype or determine the source of the virus.https://t.co/hCKAt7Xg4m pic.twitter.com/czPgVYo6Z3
— CIDRAP (@CIDRAP) May 14, 2024
The political version of Oppositional Defiance Disorder (and the professional grifters who fatten off them):
I guess that explains this:https://t.co/Z0m3f2XBV7
— Lauren Windsor (@lawindsor) May 15, 2024
… Since March 25, when the bird flu virus was confirmed in U.S. cattle for the first time, weekly sales of raw cow’s milk have ticked up 21% to as much as 65% compared with the same periods a year ago, according to the market research firm NielsenIQ…
… CDC officials warned last week that people who drink raw milk could theoretically become infected if the bird flu virus comes in contact with receptors in the nose, mouth and throat or by inhaling virus into the lungs. There’s also concern that if more people are exposed to the virus, it could mutate to spread more easily in people.
States have widely varying regulations regarding raw milk, with some allowing retail sales in stores and others allowing sale only at farms. Some states allow so-called cowshares, where people pay for milk from designated animals, and some allow consumption only by farm owners, employees or “non-paying guests.”…
From 1998 to 2018, the CDC documented more than 200 illness outbreaks traced to raw milk, which sickened more than 2,600 people and hospitalized more than 225.
Raw milk is far more likely than pasteurized milk to cause illnesses and hospitalizations linked to dangerous bacteria such as campylobacter, listeria, salmonella and E. coli, research shows…
I’m willing to allow the argument that raw milk ‘tastes better’, but right now, I wouldn’t drink unprocessed milk even from a cow I *did* know personally!
#Today in 1796, Edward Jenner administered the first successful vaccination against smallpox, which was also the first vaccination ever.
Jenner is often called "the father of immunology": his work likely saved more lives than the work of any other human. pic.twitter.com/1JK3eGI4mG
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) May 14, 2024
Last night's update: 45,296 new cases, 460 new deaths https://t.co/t6BlFUxs31
— BNO News (@BNOFeed) May 13, 2024
COVID-19 Coronavirus (& H5N1) Updates: May 15, 2024Post + Comments (29)