Fowl flu snapshot: That is the primary in a sequence of normal updates on H5N1 avian flu that STAT is publishing on Monday mornings. To learn future updates you can even subscribe to STAT’s Morning Rounds e-newsletter.
Seth Berkley, the previous head of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, gave voice final week to a degree of view STAT has been listening to for some time concerning the U.S. response to the H5N1 fowl flu outbreak in dairy cows. “It’s been surprising to look at the ineptitude,” Berkley, an American presently dwelling in Switzerland, mentioned at an occasion on the way forward for vaccines held in London.
Berkley was speaking, amongst different issues, concerning the surveillance being executed to attempt to get a deal with on how widespread the outbreak has really grow to be. It has been practically three months for the reason that virus was first recognized in cattle, and the nation isn’t any nearer to a solution to that query. As of Friday, the U.S. Division of Agriculture had confirmed infections in 102 herds in 12 states; Iowa, one of many newest states to report contaminated herds, introduced it had discovered two extra that haven’t but made it to the USDA checklist. So far three individuals — all farmworkers — have contracted the virus from cows.
Have any of the affected herds cleared their infections? In that case, what number of? The USDA couldn’t reply these questions on Thursday. And but Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack confidently declared at a press convention earlier this month that his division feels it is aware of how the virus is transferring between herds and the right way to cease it. “We try to basically nook the virus,” Vilsack mentioned, even though operators of solely 11 of the affected herds have utilized for USDA assist to enhance biosecurity on their farms and defray testing prices.
The federal government’s seeming lack of ability to get farmers to reveal that they’ve contaminated animals has many anxious observers wishing extra states have been doing what Michigan’s doing. True, it has extra declared herds than another state. However that’s as a result of its response is extra strong, followers of the state’s method say. “One among our mantras is in case you don’t check for it you don’t discover it,” the state’s chief medical government, Natasha Bagdasarian, advised STAT in an interview.
