Three dairy veterinarians, including those who only worked in states where the outbreak of avian flu in cattle are unknown, suffer from a recent undetected avian flu infection, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ta. The results are based on antibody tests from 150 veterinarians working in 46 US states.
Experts say the findings were not entirely surprising, but that the virus known as H5N1 could potentially infect cattle and people in more states than officially reported. suggested.
“We don't know how much this outbreak is in the US,” said Sheema Rakdawala, a virologist at Emory University. “There's clearly been an infection that we're missing.”
Since the outbreak of avian flu in dairy cows was first reported last March, the virus has been confirmed in more than 950 herds in 16 states. It was also detected in 68 people, of which 41 were in contact with the sick cow. Most people suffer from mild symptoms.
The new study, published in the CDC's flagship morbidity and death week report, was originally scheduled for publication a few weeks ago, but delayed by a Trump administration suspension on public communication from health science institutions I did.
“It's important to have this data for public health preparation,” said Dr. Nahid Badelia, director of the Boston University Center for New Infectious Diseases.
The study was conducted at the Veterinary Conference last September. Participating veterinarians practiced in 46 different states and Canada. Of the 150 veterinarians enrolled in the study, 25 reported working with cattle known to have or suspected of having avian flu.
Three of the veterinarians tested positive for antibodies to the virus. None of these three veterinarians reported any work with cows believed to have avian flu. (No one was working with infected poultry.) I couldn't remember the fading symptoms.
One of the veterinarians worked with cattle only in Georgia and South Carolina. This does not report affected herds.
“I think we all suspect there are more conditions. Potentially, it's a virus that has not been detected,” Dr. Badelia said.
Dr. Cakdawala said he was surprised that none of the 25 veterinarians who knew they were working with infected cows were aware that the antibodies were positive. But those who knew they were working with infected animals were “incorporating more precautions,” she said.
None of the three vets who tested positive for the antibody reported wearing masks or goggles. Such precautions are not recommended when working with healthy animals in unaffected areas, the study notes.
It remains unclear exactly how veterinarians are infected, and veterinarians may have less contact with milk containing the virus than farm workers who spend their days at milking parlors, Dr. Rakdawara said.
“The vets we spoke to on these farms are involved in all aspects of care for these animals,” she said. “They see everything, they see everything to these cows.”
The findings highlighted the need for far more testing, including testing asymptomatic dairy workers and bovine veterinarians and expanding testing of the country's milk supply, experts said.
The USDA announced a national program in December to test bulk milk samples. As of February 7th, 40 states have been registered and are actively conducting tests. In Nevada, bulk testing of milk has recently revealed that dairy cows have been infected with a new version of the virus that is different from the ones that have spread to dairy cows for the past year.
“States that don't onboard bulk milk tests should do that. Don't assume they reported that they have a bit of room because there were no infected packs,” Dr. Badelia said.
When the study was conducted last fall, the virus was detected in herds of dairy cows in 14 states and 14 people, four of which were in contact with dairy cows.
Apoorva Mandavilli contributed the report.
