Tag Archives: avian-influenza

Severe Avian Influenza Case in Louisiana.

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Happy New Year!

This is a note about the current Avian Flu epidemic spreading among poultry and dairy farms in the US, and which has been in the news in the last few days.

In the last few years, an H5N1 strain of the flu has been spreading among commercial poultry and even dairy farms, causing a lot of trouble for farmers, including the culling of animals.  According to the CDC, 66 humans have been infected in the US during this same time period.  So far, all of these people were infected because of close contact with birds or cattle.  There is still no human to human transmission.

The reason avian influenza is in the news right now is that there is a case of severe disease in a human in Louisiana.  DNA sequencing has been done on the strain in this case, and it appears that there was significant mutation that occurred in the infected individual.  Mutation in a human host makes it more likely that the new strain may be able to infect other humans directly.  The mutations were in the Hemagglutinin protein, the protein from which the H in H5N1 is derived.

Structure of the Influenza Virus. Hemagglutinin and Neuraminidase are surface proteins that mediate infection in animal cells. These proteins are when the H and N designations come from in H5N1.

Again I want to be clear that no human to human transmission has been detected as of yet, so there is not yet any need to go into COVID mode!  However, if you work with poultry or cattle, you should be more cautious.  Wash your hands regularly, and make sure fluids from your animals stay out of your mouth, nose or eyes.  This includes milk!  If you drink raw milk, make sure you are getting your milk from a source that performs regular testing for flu.  Also, if you have back yard chickens, you should limit your birds’ contact with wild birds by keeping them in a coup with a roof, even one made of wire is fine.

As usual, make sure chicken products are cooked thoroughly before consumption.

There has also been a significant number of cases in house cats.  If you can keep your house cat indoors, it might be a good idea to do that until things die down.

The State of California has declared a state of emergency regarding this flu outbreak.  My opinion is that this is premature, since we still don’t have human to human transmission.  I will continue to monitor the situation, and will let you know if more concern is warranted.

Don’t fear, but be smart!
Erik

Avian Influenza 2024

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As the news about Avian Flu broke last week, I was hoping that I could ignore it and it would go away.  Unfortunately, discussion online has continued to heat up, so I wanted to give you some information. I’ll put the most important stuff in the next 2 paragraphs, and more details down below if you want them.

There is a new outbreak of an Avian Flu that is being discussed by various outlets.  Avian Flu is a member of the flu family of viruses, but of a type that is very uncommon in humans.  Transmission to humans is still extremely low, but because our immune systems are unfamiliar with them, symptoms in infected humans can be very severe and fatality rates are as high as 30%.  Anytime a human is infected, there is some reason for caution.  As of this writing, only 2 humans in the US are known to have been infected.  Both individuals had direct contact with infected animals, both cattle and chickens.  So far, there are no known cases of human to human transmission. For the large majority of us, the currently known chance that you or family will be infected is zero. I fully expect that there will NOT be a widespread outbreak of avian flu in humans.

If you have livestock animals like cattle, pigs, or chickens, you will want to take extra precautions. There has actually been an outbreak of avian flu among chickens in the US since 2020, so this is an active situation already. The risk is currently much higher to animals than it is to humans, and lots of animals have been culled during this time. Until we know more, quarantine new animals for a time as you bring them on to your property. Chickens can shed virus both in respiratory secretions and in poop.  If you have sick or dead animals, wear safety goggles, gloves and an N95 respirator before handling them. Afterwards, wash your hands thoroughly before touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Dogs and cats can get bird flu if they eat infected animals or interact with them closely.

Because so many chickens are culled during large Avian Flu outbreaks, there may be an increase in chicken and egg prices.

The influenza family of viruses is native to aquatic birds, like ducks and geese.  The flu arises every year from flocks living in southern China, and often spreads to farm animals like chickens and pigs before entering the human population.  2 surface proteins, hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA), both come in several different varieties, designated with numbers. Our typical yearly flu is either H1N1, H1N2, H3N2, or H2N2. Other strains always infect aquatic birds, and sometimes other birds or animals. Avian flus that have infected humans have been H5N1 and H7N9, while some other strains have caused outbreaks of disease in chickens.

While transmission to humans is still extremely low, experts are currently recommending that animal products be thoroughly cooked before consumption.

Don’t fear, really, but be smart,

Erik

CDC page on 2024 Avian Flu

Virologist Dr. Matthew Binnicker of the Mayo Clinic discusses Avian Flu