Second type of bird flu detected in US dairy cows

A BIT ALARMING. YOU DON’T HEAR ABOUT BIRD FLU A WHOLE LOT. AND THERE’S A TON OF GEESE OVER THERE. YEAH, A LOT OF PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT THIS AVIAN INFLUENZA OR BIRD FLU HAS BEEN CONFIRMED IN MULTIPLE PARTS OF OUR REGION AND BEYOND. SO TONIGHT WE’RE DIGGING INTO THE FACTS ON THIS FLU AND HOW SOME FARMERS IN PENNSYLVANIA ARE TRYING TO KEEP THEIR ANIMALS SAFE. WELCOME TO NEWS EIGHT AT 530. I’M LORI BURKHOLDER AND I’M BRIAN ROCHE. AVIAN INFLUENZA HAS HIT OUR REGION BEFORE. BUT AS FOR WHAT’S DIFFERENT ABOUT IT NOW, WE HEAD OVER TO NEWS EIGHT’S JERE GISH GETTING THE FACTS FOR US, JERRY. WELL, BRIAN. LORI, CASES HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED AT GETTYSBURG COLLEGE AND IN THE LEHIGH VALLEY IN THE PAST MONTH. BUT THE BIG CONCERN RIGHT NOW IS THIS HIGHLY PATHOGENIC AVIAN INFLUENZA OR HPAI, BEING FOUND IN DOMESTIC POULTRY. WE GOT OUR FIRST INSTANCE OF THAT JUST LAST NIGHT AS A CASE OF IT WAS CONFIRMED ON A FARM JUST TO OUR NORTHEAST. THE PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE CONFIRMED. THE CASE WAS FOUND IN A 50,000 BIRD CHICKEN FLOCK ON A COMMERCIAL POULTRY FARM IN LEHIGH COUNTY. OFFICIALS SAY A STATE AND FEDERAL TASK FORCE QUARANTINED THE FARM AND ALL COMMERCIAL POULTRY FACILITIES, AND RESTRICTED THE MOVEMENT OF POULTRY PRODUCTS WITHIN A TEN KILOMETER RADIUS OF THAT INFECTED FLOCK. THE BIRD FLU CASE IS THE FIRST CONFIRMED DETECTION IN COMMERCIAL POULTRY IN PENNSYLVANIA SINCE FEBRUARY OF LAST YEAR. THE LAST DETECTION OF DOMESTIC BIRDS WAS IN A BACKYARD FLOCK IN OCTOBER OF 2024, IN VENANGO COUNTY, AND MULTIPLE CASES OF THE FLU WERE FOUND EARLIER THIS MONTH ON A POULTRY FARM JUST TO OUR SOUTH, THE MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES SAYS. LAB TESTING CONFIRMED SEVEN DEAD SNOW GEESE IN WORCHESTER AND DORCHESTER COUNTIES AND IN SEVERAL EASTERN SHORE POULTRY FARMS. PRETTY MUCH ALL THE THE EASTERN SHORE COUNTIES ARE LIABLE TO HAVE WILD BIRDS CARRYING HPAI HIGH PATH AVIAN INFLUENZA, OR NEIGHBORING STATES HAVE HAD SIMILAR REPORTS, AND MANY STATES ACROSS THE COUNTRY. THE STRAIN THAT’S BEEN IDENTIFIED HERE IS THE BIG NUMBER YOU SEE THERE ON YOUR SCREEN. IT’S DIFFERENT FROM THE H5N1 STRAIN WE SEE IN THE YEARS PAST AND DIFFERENT FROM THE H5N1 STRAIN THAT RECENTLY WAS INFECTING FLOCKS IN CALIFORNIA. A LOT OF NUMBERS. BUT THE FACTS ARE THESE BIRD FLU POPS UP EVERY YEAR IN THE SAME WAY THE FLU SEASON DOES FOR HUMANS. EACH TIME THERE’S A DIFFERENT STRAIN AS MUTATIONS MIX IN AND AROUND WILD AND DOMESTIC ANIMALS. ANIMALS, OF COURSE, GET SICK JUST LIKE HUMANS DO. THE ISSUE THAT FARMERS SAY THEY’RE DEALING WITH IS THAT UNLIKE THE COMMON FLU, WE CONTRACT, THERE’S NO VACCINE OR MEDICINE. STILL, THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE SAYS BIRD FLU IS HIGHLY INFECTIOUS AND GENERALLY FATAL TO DOMESTIC BIRDS. BUT POULTRY PRODUCTS AND EGGS ARE SAFE TO EAT IF COOKED PROPERLY. SO FAR, THERE HAVE BEEN NO INFECTIONS IN DAIRY CATTLE OR PEOPLE HERE IN PENNSYLVANIA. YEAH, WELL, JERRY, I UNDERSTAND THERE’S ONE FARMER IN PENNSYLVANIA, RIGHT? TAKING EXTRA STEPS TO PROTECT HIS LIVESTOCK. AND THIS SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING STRAIGHT OUT OF A MOVIE. YEAH, THIS IS PRETTY CRAZY. ALL RIGHT, MIKE MORRIS OF MARX’S GAME FARM IN DALMATIA, NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY, IS IMPLEMENTING LASERS. THAT’S RIGHT. LASERS ON HIS FARM TO SCARE AWAY WILD BIRDS THAT WOULD INFECT HIS FLOCK. THERE ARE JUST A COUPLE OF PICTURES HERE TO PROVIDED OF THE AVIC’S LASER DEVICE THAT STANDS GUARD AT SEVERAL OF THE FARM’S ENCLOSURES. HE TELLS US. THIS IS ALL IN AN EFFORT TO AVOID A REPEAT OF TRAGEDY FROM SEVERAL YEARS AGO, WHERE A PREVIOUS STRAIN RESULTED IN THE LOSS OF THOUSANDS OF BIRDS ON HIS FARM. HE’S TRYING EVERYTHING HE CAN TO MAKE SURE THAT DOESN’T HAPPEN AGAIN, AND RECOGNIZES WHILE THIS ISN’T A CURE ALL, IT HAS KEPT 80 TO 90% OF WILD BIRDS OFF HIS PROPERTY. I GUESS DO WHAT YOU GOT TO DO, EVEN IF IT INVOLVES LASERS. NOW, BIRD FLU ISN’T A CONCERN FOR FARMERS. IT’S SOMETHING THAT, WHILE RARE, HUMANS CAN CONTRACT AS WELL. BUT LET ME STRESS HERE IT IS RARE AND NEARLY ALL HEALTH OFFICIALS SAY THE SPREAD OF BIRD FLU PUTS T

Dairy cattle in Nevada have been infected with a new type of bird flu that's different from the version that has spread in U.S. herds since last year, Agriculture Department officials said Wednesday.The detection indicates that distinct forms of the virus known as Type A H5N1 have spilled over from wild birds into cattle at least twice. Experts said it raises new questions about wider spread and the difficulty of controlling infections in animals and the people who work closely with them.“I always thought one bird-to-cow transmission was a very rare event. Seems that may not be the case,” said Richard Webby, an influenza expert at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.A version of the H5N1 bird flu virus known as B3.13 was confirmed in March after being introduced to cattle in late 2023, scientists said. It has infected more than 950 herds in 16 states. The new version, known as D1.1, was confirmed in Nevada cattle on Friday, according to USDA. It was detected in milk collected as part of a surveillance program launched in December.“Now we know why it's really important to test and continue testing,” said Angela Rasmussen, a virus expert at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, who helped identify the first spillover.Video below: Egg prices soar, impacting restaurants and consumersThe D1.1 version of the virus was the type linked to the first U.S. death tied to bird flu and a severe illness in Canada. A person in Louisiana died in January after developing severe respiratory symptoms following contact with wild and backyard birds. In British Columbia, a teen girl was hospitalized for months with a virus traced to poultry.At least 67 people in the U.S. have been infected with bird flu, mostly those who work closely with dairy or cattle, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.USDA officials said they would post genetic sequences and other information about the new form of the virus to a public repository later this week. Scientists said that would be key to understanding whether the spillover was a recent event or whether the virus has been circulating, perhaps widely, for longer.“If this turns out to have been something that crossed into cattle a couple months ago, a couple months is a long time not to detect it,” said Michael Worobey, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Arizona who has studied the H5N1 virus in cattle.He added that it's important for federal officials to share promptly information about a virus that has the potential to trigger a pandemic that could “make COVID seem like a walk in the park.”“It's a vital part of national security, global security, the well-being of people, of animals and of businesses in the U.S.,” Worobey added.

Dairy cattle in Nevada have been infected with a new type of bird flu that's different from the version that has spread in U.S. herds since last year, Agriculture Department officials said Wednesday.

The detection indicates that distinct forms of the virus known as Type A H5N1 have spilled over from wild birds into cattle at least twice. Experts said it raises new questions about wider spread and the difficulty of controlling infections in animals and the people who work closely with them.

“I always thought one bird-to-cow transmission was a very rare event. Seems that may not be the case,” said Richard Webby, an influenza expert at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

A version of the H5N1 bird flu virus known as B3.13 was confirmed in March after being introduced to cattle in late 2023, scientists said. It has infected more than 950 herds in 16 states. The new version, known as D1.1, was confirmed in Nevada cattle on Friday, according to USDA. It was detected in milk collected as part of a surveillance program launched in December.

“Now we know why it's really important to test and continue testing,” said Angela Rasmussen, a virus expert at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, who helped identify the first spillover.

Video below: Egg prices soar, impacting restaurants and consumers

The D1.1 version of the virus was the type linked to the first U.S. death tied to bird flu and a severe illness in Canada. A person in Louisiana died in January after developing severe respiratory symptoms following contact with wild and backyard birds. In British Columbia, a teen girl was hospitalized for months with a virus traced to poultry.

At least 67 people in the U.S. have been infected with bird flu, mostly those who work closely with dairy or cattle, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

USDA officials said they would post genetic sequences and other information about the new form of the virus to a public repository later this week. Scientists said that would be key to understanding whether the spillover was a recent event or whether the virus has been circulating, perhaps widely, for longer.

“If this turns out to have been something that crossed into cattle a couple months ago, a couple months is a long time not to detect it,” said Michael Worobey, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Arizona who has studied the H5N1 virus in cattle.

He added that it's important for federal officials to share promptly information about a virus that has the potential to trigger a pandemic that could “make COVID seem like a walk in the park.”

“It's a vital part of national security, global security, the well-being of people, of animals and of businesses in the U.S.,” Worobey added.

��vlog