Dairy Cow bird flu outbreak

[Smoove_B]

Didn't realize there was a news story about it! That's great.

There were allegedly three studies about Bird Flu that were scheduled to be released today in the new MMWR; none were.

[Max Peck]

One new, for me, bit of information in the NYT article is that some of the feline infections have been linked to raw milk. If cats can be infected by consuming raw milk, then so can people.

Also, the last I heard cats are generally lactose intolerant. Why do people insist on giving them milk, let alone raw milk, in the first place?

[Smoove_B]

I think it's just the intersection of having so-called "barn cats" around farms to deal with all the rodents. They end up just drinking raw milk that's spilled as part of the milking process.

That said, there are absolutely knuckleheads that feed their house pets a raw food diet, so we can't discount them completely. Add in the number of house cats that are allowed to roam freely outdoors and that come back indoors at night or whenever (presumably interacting with wildlife) and you have any number of scenarios where bird flu could jump from a cat to a person.

[Max Peck]

Ah, OK, I wasn't thinking in terms of cats on the dairy farms. Still, regardless of where the cat accessed the milk, if a cat can contract the virus by consuming infected raw milk, then I'd imagine that people can as well.

[Smoove_B]

Yeah, I think it's one of those "strongly suspected" but not yet confirmed situations yet for humans.

Just need the dice to roll the right combo:

raw milk w/ virus ---> human consumption ----> illness ----> ER visit ---> patient admits raw milk consumption ---> doctor orders genetic sequence

[Smoove_B]

I'm putting this article in R&P because there seems to be a focus on the fact that our government is failing us...again.

Two dairy workers in Michigan may have transmitted bird flu to their pet cats last May, suggests a new study published on Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In one household, infected cats may also have passed the virus to other people in the home, but limited evidence makes it difficult to ascertain the possibility.

The results are from a study that was scheduled to be published in January but was delayed by the Trump administration’s pause on communications from the C.D.C.

...

“I don’t think we can say for sure if this is human-to-cat or cat-to-human or cat-from-something-else,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at the Brown University School of Public Health.

This sounds familiar:

“In order to protect people and stay ahead of this virus, we need to remove disincentives for patients to get tested,” she added. “People should not fear that testing positive will cause financial distress or other personal harms.”

And for those that are still eager to drink raw milk:

The cat’s owner transported unpasteurized milk, including from farms with known bird flu outbreaks. According to the study, the owner “did not wear personal protective equipment (PPE) while handling raw milk; reported frequent milk splash exposures to the face, eyes and clothing; and did not remove work clothing before entering the home when returning from work.”

The cat that became ill was known to “roll in the owner’s work clothes,” the study noted.

Virus in raw milk splattered on those clothes may be the source of infection in the cat, said Dr. Keith Poulsen, the director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.

The real concern here is we still don't know what's happening - and this is about a case in May of 2024. Are cats giving it to humans? Are humans giving it to cats? Are we passing it back and forth?

The amount of energy and effort we've spent looking into the etiology of so many random zoonotic infections is absolutely amazing (if you like to learn about that stuff). That we've been shrugging this off for 3+ years now is mind-boggling to me.

[$iljanus]

Who knows Smoove? Humans might come out of this okay... it's just all the domesticated livestock that will be decimated and food costs will be prohibitively expensive crashing the world economy while people fight over cans of corned beef hash. The oceans will be overfished and crops will fail due to adverse climate conditions. But we won't be dying from bird flu at least!

[Isgrimnur]

We'll finally go vegetarian as a society!

[Smoove_B]

We'll finally go vegetarian as a society!

Probably entomophagy first.

[Isgrimnur]

Does entomophagy have a higher or lower risk of everyone dying of E. coli?

[Smoove_B]

I can't quote a study, but my gut is telling me lower risk for pathogens compared to vegetarian diet, mainly because I'm assuming all insects would be processed in some way and not eaten raw - unlike your nasty-ass poo-poo side salad.

Just seeing this study for the first time too. Interesting stuff.

Another threat to entomophagy is the potential role of insects as biological and mechanical vectors of human and animal pathogens. Persistent risks may include Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., Staphylococcus spp., and Listeria monocytogenes. Insects can also act as intermediate hosts or mechanical vectors for parasites, for example, protozoa or tapeworms. However, a similar phenomenon may occur in conventional livestock; therefore, with the application of Good Practice for Farm Animal Breeding, biosecurity, and appropriate sanitary and veterinary regulations, this threat can be easily eliminated.

[Isgrimnur]

But who's going to enforce those standards, kid?

[Holman]

We'll finally go vegetarian as a society!

Way too Woke.

Enjoy your Soylent Green, citizen. Now with extra hydroxychloroquine!

[Blackhawk]

Supply and demand. If the food is too expensive due to a reduced supply, you can either increase supply, or reduce demand.

Gutting Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, HHS, and the CDC should accomplish it nicely.

[Smoove_B]

But who's going to enforce those standards, kid?

The hand of the free market, of course! Brought to you by Insectco - when you think of bugs, think of Insectco!

[Smoove_B]

I'm deciding to put this here, given how focused it is:

As the H5N1 avian influenza outbreak continues, scientists are working to better understand the virus’s threat to human health. The virus has been found in dairy cows’ milk and has infected farm workers, prompting scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to study potential treatments. Results showed that in a preclinical model, two FDA–approved flu antivirals generally did not successfully treat severe H5N1 infections. Additionally, the researchers found that the route of infection, whether through the eye, the nose or the mouth, significantly impacts a treatment’s effectiveness. The findings were published today in Nature Microbiology.

“Our evidence suggests that it is likely going to be hard to treat people severely infected with this bovine H5N1 bird flu strain,” said corresponding author Richard Webby, PhD, St. Jude Department of Host-Microbe Interactions. “Instead, reducing infection risk by not drinking raw milk and reducing dairy farm workers’ exposures, for example, may be the most effective interventions.”

Do what you will with that information.

[Dogstar]

https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news ... flu-spread

“Let it spread to identify natural immunity.” What a novel approach to a pathogen. Not likely to have any negative effects whatsoever.

[Blackhawk]

Then, after 65% of the population is dead, you'll know who's got immunity!

[Hyena]

Then, after 65% of the population is dead, you'll know who's got immunity!

Didn't someone write a book about a while ago?

[Pyperkub]

https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news ... flu-spread

“Let it spread to identify natural immunity.” What a novel approach to a pathogen. Not likely to have any negative effects whatsoever.

Novel? Nah, that's how it was done for thousands of years...

... but for the 21st Century? The stupidity is blinding.