By Gabriella Sotelo, Sentient Media
Since late January, a mystery illness began to appear in older cows in three states showing up on dairy farms in Texas, Kansas and New Mexico. A troubling pattern began to emerge: a drop in cow milk production, cows not willing to eat and symptoms that last 10 to 14 days. On some farms, dead wild birds were found. By March 25, the mystery was confirmed highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly known as the bird flu. The virus has now been found in farms on five states in total: Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico and Texas.
The bird flu is a virus that naturally and normally spreads among birds, but under the right conditions, it can spread like wildfire. The highly pathogenic avian influenza, in comparison to less virulent versions of the illness, can cause severe disease to appear among birds and also high mortality rates.
In the United States alone it has affected more than 82 million birds since 2022, according to the CDC. But recently the flu has been spreading to both land and sea mammals, creating new worries. Since mammals are biologically closer to humans, the World Health Organization has warned the virus might adapt to infect humans more easily.
Just last year a study was released detailing how avian flu is mutating, and how it has been able to severely affect mammalian brains. The disease has spread to bears, otters and in rare cases, humans, with the first case appearing in 2022 in the United States.
Research suggests that conditions on factory farms, where animals are often kept in crowded, filthy and stressful environments, serve as the ideal setting for disease to spread amongst animals conditions that make disease outbreaks hard to prevent. The outbreak in Texas and Kansas seems to be the first case of avian flu appearing in cattle. But for now, initial testing done by the National Veterinary Services Laboratory has found that there are no changes to the virus that would make it more transmissible to humans.
Even though the illness is affecting dairy cows causing them to experience a fever, reduced appetite, pneumonia, clogged milk ducts or producing thicker and yellowish milk the bird flu outbreak has not impacted the milk supply, officials say. When dairy farms send their milk to processing, they can only send milk from healthy animals, in this case healthy cows. Any milk from cows that were infected would be diverted or destroyed, according to USDA guidelines. Commercial milk, as in the milk that you would get at the grocery store, also has to go through pasteurization, which inactivates any bacteria or viruses, including the flu virus.
Questions remain about exactly how the virus is spreading among dairy cows. Andrew Bowman, a molecular epidemiologist and influenza expert at Ohio State University, told The New York Times that it is unclear right now whether or not the infected cows have gotten the virus directly from birds, or if the virus is also spreading from one cow to another.
Of the impacted herds, on average around 10 percent of cows have become sick, with most cases appearing in older cows. It also has also led to 10 to 20 percent reduction in milk production in the affected cows, though, again, any milk produced by affected cows will not appear on grocery shelves.
The USDA is not requiring farmers to euthanize the affected cows. But farmers with affected herds may be able to receive compensation or livestock assistance under one of the USDAs Disaster Assistance Program, which provides emergency assistance to eligible producers of livestock, honeybees and farm-raised fish for losses due to disease. It is unknown whether this will include the bird flu, and whether farmers can account for any related loss when filing in the following year.
The USDA insists the outbreak will not impact the dairy market. Milk loss resulting from symptomatic cattle to date is too limited to have a major impact on supply and there should be no impact on the price of milk or other dairy products, the agency said in a statement.
Still, if the outbreak in dairy herds were to keep spreading, the virus could lead to market disruptions and more farm animals at risk of disease and, ultimately, death.
Update: this piece has been updated to reflect that the outbreak on dairy farms has now been documented in five states.
This article originally appeared in Sentient at https://sentientmedia.org/bird-flu-dairy-cows/.
This story was originally published by Sentient Media.
***
All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS. A $50 annual membership gives you an all access pass. You can be a part of every call, group, class and community. A $25 annual membership gives you access to one class, one Social Interest group and our online communities. A $12 annual membership gives you access to our Friday calls with the publisher, our online community.
Photo credit: sentientmedia.org/Tove Ford
Namakkal: Amid fears of bird flu spreading in two panchayats in Keralas Alappuzha district, poultry farmers in Namakkal district have strengthened biosecurity measures in their farms.Former chief of the Namakkal Egg Coordination Committee (NECC) P Venkatachalam said, We have intensified vaccination protocols for chicks and enforced strict biosecurity measures on all farms.All individuals working within the poultry farms must undergo disinfection procedures, he said, adding that this would apply to people entering the farms for business purposes.Venkatachalam said all vehicles will be disinfected before entering the farms. It is important to note that there are no duck farms in Tamil Nadu, he said.Veterinarian Dr P V Senthil said the avian flu is a delicate virus that does not spread in hot environments.The virus transmission to humans is rare, he said.He pointed out that workers currently employed in duck farms in Kerala have not exhibited any symptoms of bird flu.He reassured that consuming bird meat, including chicken, poses no risk as the virus is destroyed during cooking due to high temperatures. Therefore, individuals consuming poultry products need not worry about bird flu, he added.On Sunday, the Kerala government said a few ducks in the Alappuzha district had succumbed to bird flu.Officials confirmed that the birds were infected with the avian influenza virus (H5N1). Following this, the state government ordered the animal husbandry department to cull more than 21,000 ducks.
We also published the following articles recently
Bird flu in Kerala: Kovai on high alert
Coimbatore remains vigilant at check posts on the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border after bird flu outbreak in Alappuzha. H5N1 detected in ducks with samples sent to Bhopal. Strict measures taken for vehicles from Kerala.
Massive fire burns down 2 poultry farms, 6k chickens killed
Two poultry farms in Binaura village, Lakhimpur Kheri, destroyed by fire, killing 6,000 chickens. Operator absent. Villagers failed to stop fire. Loss of Rs 3 lakh. Firefighters to investigate.
Bird flu outbreak: Invoke steps under health act, Kerala minister directs officials
Veena George instructs health actions under Kerala Public Health Act, 2023, due to bird flu in Alappuzha. Urgent meetings, surveillance, 'One Health' committee strengthening, symptom monitoring, precautions, and state-level reporting.
A study yesterday in JAMA Internal Medicinedemonstrates that 22% of hospitalized adults aged 50 years or older with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection experienced an acute cardiac eventmost frequently acute heart failure (16%). Moreover, 1 in 12 of infected patients (8.5%) had no documented underlying cardiovascular disease.
RSV is associated with annual totals of up to 160,000 US hospitalizations, 10,000 deaths, and $4 billion in direct healthcare costs among adults age 65 years or older.
"Despite evidence of considerable RSV-associated morbidity, mortality, and health care expenditure, the potential severity of RSV infection in adults has historically been underappreciated by public health professionals and clinicians," the authors write. RSV is rarely tested for in the clinical settings, and symptoms usually mirror other respiratory diseases, they add.
Despite evidence of considerable RSV-associated morbidity, mortality, and health care expenditure, the potential severity of RSV infection in adults has historically been underappreciated.
The study consisted of outcomes among 6,248 adults aged 50 years and older hospitalized for RSV during 2014 to 2018, and then in 2022 and 2023, in 12 US states. Almost 60% of the adults were women, and 65.9% were White.
Upon hospital admission, 93.1% of those included in the study had a fever, and 80.6% had a cough.
A total of 56.4% of patients had underlying cardiovascular disease, including 31.9% with heart failure, 30.2% with coronary artery disease, and 25.2% with atrial fibrillation. After cardiovascular disease, diabetes (35%) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (34.8%) were the most common underlying conditions.
According to the authors, the weighted estimated prevalence of experiencing an acute cardiac event among adults aged 50 years or older hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed RSV infection was 22.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], 21.0% to 23.7%.) Among those events, acute heart failure was the most common, with a prevalence of 15.8% (95% CI, 14.6% to 17.0%) in all RSV-infected patients.
Patients with underlying cardiovascular disease had a greater weighted risk of experiencing an acute cardiac event of any category compared to those without underlying cardiovascular disease (33.0% vs 8.5%). A history of heart failure, age 85 years or older, and atrial fibrillation were also associated with a higher risk of having an acute cardiac event.
Experiencing an acute cardiac event during hospitalization was also associated with more severe RSV outcomes, including intensive care unit admission, invasive mechanical ventilation, and in-hospital death.
"Acute cardiac events occurred frequently among adults with a history of underlying cardiovascular disease, particularly chronic heart failure," the authors concluded. "However, acute cardiac events also occurred in 1 in 12 adults who had no previous documentation of cardiovascular disease, suggesting that severe RSV infection may precipitate or reveal previously undiagnosed cardiovascular disease."
Awareness of RSV's costly impact in the United States is growing, however, and in 2023, the first vaccine for adults ages 65 and older was approved for use in older Americans.
In an editor's note published on the study, Tracy Wang, MD, MHS, a JAMA Internal Medicine associate editor, warns that RSV vaccine uptake among older Americans has been very low, much lower than flu vaccination.
"Prior RSV-related efforts have focused on infants and young children, with many clinicians and patients still unaware of RSV burden of disease and prognosis in older adults," Wang writes. Moreover, RSV vaccines are inconsistently covered by insurance carriers.
"This coverage difference means that many clinic offices need to refer patients to pharmacies for vaccination, and out-of-pocket costs may be necessary for vaccination," she adds. "Vaccine fatigue and access barriers among currently eligible persons need to be addressed to enhance uptake by those who stand to benefit."
New Mexico has had its first case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in a commercial operation.
According to information from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the presence of H5N1 HPAI was confirmed in a commercial hatchery in Roosevelt County. APHIS did not specify what type of hatchery was affected, but it did reveal that 61,500 birds were involved.
Until now, New Mexico had never had any commercial flocks affected during the 2022-24 HPAI outbreak, and only two backyard infections with one of those being confirmed in November 2023 and the other in October 2023.
However, H5N1 has become a more common topic of concern in New Mexico in recent weeks, with the presence of the virus being confirmed in six dairy cattle herds in the state since the beginning of April. APHIS did not offer information concerning in which counties those bovine cases were confirmed, but a World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) report stated that five such instances were confirmed in Curry County.
In accordance with rules set by WOAH, backyard poultry and dairy cattle infections should not impact global poultry trade.
To learn more about HPAI cases in commercial poultry flocks in the United States, Mexico and Canada, see an interactive mapon WATTPoultry.com.
View our continuing coverage of theglobal avian influenza situation.
The federally supported mass community vaccination center opened in north Tulsa three years ago.
It was a focused outreach to seek equitable access for minority populations, build trust in the Black community hurt by past medical maltreatment and help overcome justifiable vaccine hesitancy, said Rev. Jamaal Dyer, senior pastor of Friendship Church.
The temporary clinic at Tulsa Community Colleges Northeast Campus, 3727 E. Apache St., could administer up to 3,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine per day for eight weeks.
The Eastern Caribbean Court of Court of Appeal has set May 2 as the date for hearing of the appeal in the COVID-19 vaccine mandate case, which was initially scheduled to be heard on February1this year.
The earlierhearing was adjourned after a member of the three-judge panel was unavailable to hear the matter.
Since then, public sector workers who were dismissed under the governments 2021 COVID-19 vaccine mandate, which the High Court later ruled was illegal, have been awaiting the new date for the hearing.
On March 13,2023, High Court judge,Justice Esso Henry who has since been appointed a justice of appeal delivered what Jomo Thomas, a lawyer for the claimants, described as the legal equivalent of a slam dunk.
Justice Henry ruled against the government in all but one aspect of the case, brought by the e Public Service Union(PSU) the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Teachers Union (SVGTU) and the Police Welfare Association(PWA).
The government appealed the ruling But Justice Mario Michel, who was president of the three-member panel, said that one of the members was unable to sit as part of the panelon February 1.
Accordingly, and regrettably, this matter will be adjourned to a date to be fixed by the chief registrar in consultation with counsel, Justice Michel said.
He said he wanted to assure the lawyers involved in the matter that the chief registrar would be asked to find the first available date convenient to counsel.
Since then, the parties have been anxiously waiting for a date for the hearing of the appeal.
Thomas confirmed to the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) on Friday that parties in the matter were informed that the appeal will be heard on May 2, when the Court of Appeal sits in Antigua.
The hearing is slated to take place exactly one month after Elroy Boucher, president of the PSU, expressed concerns about the delay.
Boucher told an April 2 press conference that he had spoken about the delay withThomas and fellow counsel in the matter, Shirlan Zita Barwellland Cara Shillingford Marsh, the lead attorney.
We were told that they had expected that sometime within the next two months that the matter will come back up. And as you havesaid, weve not heard anything about it, Boucher had said then.
In her March 2023 ruling, Justice Henry held that the public sector workers dismissed under the governments COVID-19 vaccine mandate never ceased to hold their jobs.
She ordered the government to pay them all wages and benefits they would have received had it not been for the governments decision to terminate them.
The judge further ordered that the government pay punitive damages.
The court has granted a stay of execution of Henrys judgment, pending the hearing of the appeal.
A medical staff member prepares a vial of the Pfizer/BioNTech Comirnaty vaccine against Covid-19 at ... [+] a vaccination center.
Some 700,000 people in England will get a free Covid-19 vaccine this week as the countrys spring booster campaign kicks off.
Starting Monday, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems will be able to get a shot free of charge to reduce the impact of the disease.
Some 48,400 shots have already been delivered to adults in residential care homes, officials say, with vaccine teams having visited around 3,400 facilities by Thursday April 18.
Vaccines significantly reduce the chances of hospitalization and death from Covid-19. This is especially important for those most at risk of complications.
Follow-up doses help maintain existing protection against the disease, which can wane over time.
Steve Russell, who directs vaccines and immunizations at the countrys public health system, the National Health Service, said last years data showed those who received the spring jab were up to 50% less likely to be admitted to hospital for three to four months afterwards.
Officials invited eligible members of the public to book their shots last week. These individuals will also be invited to book by phone, letter or email.
Private vaccines are now also available in the U.K. for the first time ever.
Scientists on the U.K. countrys Joint Committee on Vaccines and Immunisation advise health leaders on vaccine eligibility. They compare evidence on a shots benefits and risks with the dangers of the disease it targets to come up with their recommendations.
In February, JCVI scientists advised giving boosters to those aged 75 or older, those living in older peoples care homes and those aged six months or older who are immunosupressed.
This includes people whose immune systems are weakened because of treatments like chemotherapy and radiotherapy, certain immunosupressive medications or organ transplantation. It also includes those who have particular health conditions that impact the immune system, including multiple myeloma, HIV infection, and certain genetic disorders.
A full list of relevant immunosupressive conditions can be found on page 24 of the UKs Green Book on Covid-19.
Professor Wei Shen Lim, chair of Covid-19 immunization on the JCVI, said at the time that the spring programme will continue to focus on those at greatest risk of getting seriously ill, who will benefit the most from a further vaccine dose.
It is important that everyone who is eligible takes up the offer this spring, he said in a statement. Current vaccines provide good protection against severe disease, hospitalization and can protect those most vulnerable from death.
Mary Ramsay, who directs public health programmes at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said that ongoing surveillance shows Covid-19 is still causing severe illness, particularly in older age groups and those who are immunosuppressed.
But data clearly show that booster campaigns in spring and fall are effective in helping to protect those most at risk halving the likelihood of hospitalization from the virus, she added.
Minimizing the impact of Covid-19 on Englands public health system remains important as hospitals struggle to keep up with demand for services.
The country has been experiencing a crisis in emergency care for at least two years, with a lack of available hospital beds leading to lengthy waits for admission, overcrowding in emergency departments and ambulance delays.
There are many factors behind the crisis, including a lack of social care capacity for people who are medically fit to leave hospital, but who need extra support in the community to be discharged safely.
Its likely that long waits for elective procedures, exacerbated by a pandemic which saw vast swathes of cancelled operations, have left people sicker than they would have been if theyd been seen quicker.
An ageing population and widening levels of inequality have also contributed to increased demand for services.
The true impact of Covid-19 on the country is still being unpicked by researchers. Last month, statisticians revealed the disease is thought to be a major factor in a reduction in the U.K.s healthy life expectancy.
Transgender and disabled individuals in India face challenges when attempting to obtain vaccines. Because of this, they are often labeled as being hesitant. A need was felt to look into aspects within and outside of the health system which make it difficult for specific communities to decide on vaccination.
A new study published recently in the Journal of Communication in Healthcare sought to understand the role of trust in decisionmaking about Covid-19 vaccine among two communities in India.
The study was conducted at the initiative for Health Equity Advocacy and Research (iHEAR) hosted at the Sangath Bhopal Hub. Funded by Sabin Vaccine Institute, USA, study researchers from iHEAR interviewed 24 community representatives who identify themselves as transgenders or as persons with disability, and 21 key informants.
Key informants were people with knowledge of the vaccination programme, such as vaccine program managers, vaccine providers, and community advocates. We recorded interviews and analyzed them line by line. This was done over the period of more than a year from October 2021 to December 2022. A unique aspect of the project was that it was co-led and co-designed by members of the trans and disabled community who were part of the research team and community advisory board, researchers said.
People from both communities have unique healthcare needs. Understanding how vaccines interact with these unique healthcare needs is crucial to making informed decisions on vaccines. For instance, among trans persons, considerations such as interaction between vaccines and gender-affirmative interventions (e.g. hormone therapy) were significant. Similarly, for the disabled, factors such as their specific disabilities and any comorbidities they may have has played a vital role (eg their disability medication). Additionally, there was a lack of proactive government effort to address these issues in the public sphere, including the use of accessible communication methods to effectively reach these communities, researchers said.
Dr Satendra Singh, study co-investigator and disability justice defender said the recent study highlights the overlooked challenges faced by trans and disability communities in vaccine rollouts, emphasising the imperative of an intersectional approach and addressing communication inequities as pivotal factors in restoring trust and increasing vaccine uptake. We discovered that past negative experiences with the health system have fueled mistrust, while decision-making patterns proved to be dynamic and context-dependent, thus underscoring the critical importance of inclusion in vaccine trials. he said.
Dr Harikeerthan Raghuram, associate director (Health Equity), Sangath, said that, Leaders should stop painting whole communities as people who are not coming forward to get a vaccine. This is because, as the study shows, decisions about whether or not to get vaccinated today are made in the light of negative experiences faced by transgender and disability communities over many decades within and outside of healthcare. To resolve this, we must work to regain that trust step by step, he added.
The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
First uploaded on: 21-04-2024 at 19:48 IST
Researchers from the Netherlands have reported an extremely long Covid-19 infection in a man who died last year and warn of the emergence of more dangerous variants of the coronavirus.
The elderly man, who was immunocompromised due to previous illnesses, was admitted to a hospital in Amsterdam in February 2022 with a Covid-19 infection, according to a statement.
He was continuously positive for the coronavirus until his death in October 2023 for a total of 613 days.
Other cases of very long infections in people whose immune systems were unable to adequately fight the virus have previously been reported.
01:29
Like drinking milk tea: China launches worlds first inhalable Covid vaccine
Like drinking milk tea: China launches worlds first inhalable Covid vaccine
The researchers led by Magda Vergouwe from the University of Amsterdam plan to present the results at a congress of the European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Barcelona on April 27-30.
The case is also interesting for researchers because the coronavirus can change particularly strongly in such long-term infected people. This harbours the risk of variants of the virus emerging that can more easily overcome the immune systems of healthy people.
The researchers in the Netherlands repeatedly took samples from the man to analyse the genetic material of the coronavirus. They found a total of more than 50 mutations compared to the Omicron variant BA.1 that was circulating at the time, including those that would allow the virus to evade the immune defence.
Just 21 days after the man had received a certain anti-coronavirus drug, the virus also developed signs of resistance to it.
German with comically large number of Covid jabs 217 had no side effects
The man eventually died from a flare-up of one of his previous illnesses. As far as is known, he had not infected anyone with his mutated version of the coronavirus, also known under its scientific name Sars-CoV-2.
This case highlights the risk of new immune-evasive Sars-CoV-2 variants emerging in immunocompromised patients, the researchers are quoted as saying in the press release.
The extensive development of the virus in a single patient could lead to the emergence of unique variants, they warn.
It is important to closely monitor the evolution of the coronavirus in immunocompromised individuals. There is a risk that variants could emerge and spread in society that are less susceptible to the immune systems of healthy people, they added
FRIDAY, April 19, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- An immune-compromised man with a year-and-a-half-long COVID infection served as a breeding ground for dozens of coronavirus mutations, a new study discovered.
Worse, several of the mutations were in the COVID spike protein, indicating that the virus had attempted to evolve around current vaccines, researchers report.
This case underscores the risk of persistent SARS-CoV-2 infections in immunocompromised individuals, as unique SARS-CoV-2 viral variants may emerge, said the research team led by Magda Vergouwe. She's a doctoral candidate with Amsterdam University Medical Center in The Netherlands.
The patient in questioned endured the longest known COVID infection to date, fighting with the virus for 613 days before dying from the blood disease that had compromised his immune system, researchers said.
Immune-compromised patients who suffer persistent infections give the COVID virus an opportunity to adapt and evolve, the investigators explained.
For instance, the Omicron variant is thought to have emerged in an immune-compromised patient initially infected with an earlier form of COVID, researchers said.
In this latest report, the man was admitted to Amsterdam University Medical Center in February 2022 with a COVID infection at age 72, after hed already received multiple vaccinations.
He suffered from myelodysplastic and myeloproliferative overlap syndrome, a disease in which the bone marrow makes too many white blood cells, according to the U.S. National Cancer Institute.
Following a stem cell transplant, the man also had developed lymphoma, a cancer of the white blood cells, researchers said.
A drug he took for lymphoma, rituximab, depleted all the immune cells that normally produce antibodies for COVID, they added.
To clear his COVID, the man received a monoclonal antibody cocktail that ultimately proved ineffective.
In fact, gene sequencing showed that the coronavirus started mutating to evade the antibodies hed received, a step that could have potentially undermined the effectiveness of the treatment in others, researchers said.
Gene sequencing of 27 nasal specimens taken from the man revealed more than 50 mutations in the COVID virus, including variants with changes in the spike protein targeted by vaccines.
The prolonged infection has led to the emergence of a novel immune-evasive variant due to the extensive within-host evolution, researchers said.
Such cases pose a potential public health threat of possibly introducing viral escape variants into the community, they added.
However, they noted that there had been no documented transmission of any COVID variants from the man into other people.
The researchers will present their findings at the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases meeting next week in Barcelona. Findings presented at medical meetings should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
More information
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about COVID.
SOURCE: European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, news release, April 19, 2024
