Why dangerous bird flu is spreading faster and farther than first thought...

[littlemissmartypants]

Why dangerous bird flu is spreading faster and farther than first thought in U.S. cattle
Infections could have been 'flying under our radar for months,' researcher says

Lauren Pelley, Amina Zafar · CBC News · Posted: Apr 27, 2024 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: April 27
This story is part of CBC Health's Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven't subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here.

A dangerous type of bird flu virus discovered in the lung of a U.S. dairy cow that didn't show symptoms. Viral particles identified in processed, pasteurized milk. Genetic sequences showing distinct changes in this H5N1 strain that's been rapidly spreading throughout American cattle.

Those were just a handful of the rapid-fire developments this week as an unprecedented H5N1 outbreak among U.S. dairy cattle continued to evolve.

Scientists now warn this form of avian influenza is likely more widespread in cows, and was transmitting for longer than official reports suggest. And while American officials are ramping up testing — all in an effort to keep sick cows from being moved between states — others say we're already several steps behind the spread of a disease that could pose a major threat to human health.

Michael Worobey, a researcher from B.C. who's now head of the department of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Arizona, said these cattle infections may have been "flying under our radar for months," providing ongoing opportunities for this virus to acquire adaptations that could lead to a flu pandemic. "I think, in many ways, this is the biggest news story in the world right now."
Snip...more...
https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/h5n1-second-opinion-april-27-cattle-1.7185165

[Old Crank]

1. The way we handle cattle

With huge feed lots and mega farms makes the spread easier and the results greater.

[Lulu KC]

5. And feeding them chicken sh*t doesn't help

Literally!

[bucolic_frolic]

2. Don't know, they told us mad cow would be a threat 25 years ago

but Mad MAGA turned out far worse!

[littlemissmartypants]

3. I had a patient with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease aka bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or "mad cow."

He got it through corneal transplantation. He was dead within a few weeks of receiving his contaminated harvested corneal grafts.

This was way before it was known that it's spread through tissue. The CDC didn't even know what infection control precautions were needed so I ended up being in head to toe PPE*, donning and doffing every time I went to treat him. Turns out none of it was necessary.


He was a very nice man that I watched deteriorate in the most horrendous way through day to day changes that we could do nothing to stop or even marginally ameliorate. It was really scary for him especially and his family, too.

*PPE required by the CDC at the time

Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD), also known as subacute spongiform encephalopathy or neurocognitive disorder due to prion disease, is a fatal degenerative brain disorder.[4][1] Early symptoms include memory problems, behavioral changes, poor coordination, and visual disturbances.[4] Later symptoms include dementia, involuntary movements, blindness, weakness, and coma.[4] About 70% of people die within a year of diagnosis.[4] The name Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease was introduced by Walther Spielmeyer in 1922, after the German neurologists Hans Gerhard Creutzfeldt and Alfons Maria Jakob.[6]
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creutzfeldt%E2%80%93Jakob_disease
~~~~~
The mad cow crisis is a health and socio-economic crisis characterized by the collapse of beef consumption in the 1990s, as consumers became concerned about the transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) to humans through the ingestion of this type of meat.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_cow_crisis

It would be a perfect ending for you know who.

❤️pants

[Lulu KC]

4. This is not getting the public attention I would expect

Thanks for posting.