RonO
2025-01-08 22:36:31 UTC
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/avian-influenza-bird-flu/fifteen-more-states-enroll-usda-milk-testing-program
It has been over 2 months since the USDA claimed that they were going to
start bulk milk tank testing dairies. This is the third update of
states added to the program. The USDA is claiming to have some initial
results, but they do not state how many dairies have been sampled at
this time, just that the results have been negative. This seems
impossible if they had started with California.
This article doesn't note that the program was initially announced in
early Nov, and that, that resulted in the first 6 states being selected
by Dec 6. Really, it took them around 4 weeks just to decide to start
with 6 states when the initial claim was they were going to start with
states with known herd infections. The longer they wait the more
dairies will have cleared the infection before they are tested. Most
states were infected long before California and California already
claims that 56 of their initially infected herds have cleared the virus
already.
They are still not making a distinction between the dairy virus and the
D1.1 genotype for infected poultry flocks. Most of the flocks have been
infected by dairy workers working on commercial poultry farms, but the
number of backyard flock infections are increasing. This is bad if the
D1.1 genotype is infecting these backyard flocks because that is how the
Louisiana patient that died got infected. The USDA and CDC should have
separate programs for dealing with the dairy virus or the genotype D1.1
virus. The dairy virus is mainly limited to dairy herds, dairy workers,
and the poultry flocks and subsequently infected poultry workers that
have been infected by the dairy workers. The main tissue infected seems
to be mammary glands and tear ducts, and the the virus hasn't mutated to
be more infective to humans, and has had mild symptoms in all farm
workers that have been infected.
The D1.1 genotype is different. It seems to more easily acquire the
mutations needed to make it a human virus. Both human cases had virus
with the needed mutations, and it is thought that, that is one reason
why their symptoms have been so severe. The Canadian was in critical
condition and could not breath on their own at one point, and the
Louisiana patient died. Backyard pet poultry are exposed to wild birds,
that are carrying the D1.1 genotype, as they roam around the yard. The
USDA and CDC have to try to keep the poultry owners from being infected
or we will have more fatalities.
For the Dairy virus all they needed to do to control the virus was to
identify all the infected herds and isolate the dairy workers and keep
the workers and cattle from going to other farms. If that had been done
at the beginning, the dairy epidemic would be over by now.
For the D1.1 genotype they need to identify where the virus exists in
the wild, warn the poultry owners in those areas, and tell them what to
do if their poultry look sick. They need to be prepared to go in
rapidly and test suspected birds and minimize the exposure of the owners
to the D1.1 virus. They should also think about vaccinating backyard
bird owners against the D1.1 virus. This means that they need a rapid
test for the D1.1 virus, and they need to extensively survey wild bird
populations in order to determine where the D1.1 genotype exists.
Ron Okimoto
It has been over 2 months since the USDA claimed that they were going to
start bulk milk tank testing dairies. This is the third update of
states added to the program. The USDA is claiming to have some initial
results, but they do not state how many dairies have been sampled at
this time, just that the results have been negative. This seems
impossible if they had started with California.
This article doesn't note that the program was initially announced in
early Nov, and that, that resulted in the first 6 states being selected
by Dec 6. Really, it took them around 4 weeks just to decide to start
with 6 states when the initial claim was they were going to start with
states with known herd infections. The longer they wait the more
dairies will have cleared the infection before they are tested. Most
states were infected long before California and California already
claims that 56 of their initially infected herds have cleared the virus
already.
They are still not making a distinction between the dairy virus and the
D1.1 genotype for infected poultry flocks. Most of the flocks have been
infected by dairy workers working on commercial poultry farms, but the
number of backyard flock infections are increasing. This is bad if the
D1.1 genotype is infecting these backyard flocks because that is how the
Louisiana patient that died got infected. The USDA and CDC should have
separate programs for dealing with the dairy virus or the genotype D1.1
virus. The dairy virus is mainly limited to dairy herds, dairy workers,
and the poultry flocks and subsequently infected poultry workers that
have been infected by the dairy workers. The main tissue infected seems
to be mammary glands and tear ducts, and the the virus hasn't mutated to
be more infective to humans, and has had mild symptoms in all farm
workers that have been infected.
The D1.1 genotype is different. It seems to more easily acquire the
mutations needed to make it a human virus. Both human cases had virus
with the needed mutations, and it is thought that, that is one reason
why their symptoms have been so severe. The Canadian was in critical
condition and could not breath on their own at one point, and the
Louisiana patient died. Backyard pet poultry are exposed to wild birds,
that are carrying the D1.1 genotype, as they roam around the yard. The
USDA and CDC have to try to keep the poultry owners from being infected
or we will have more fatalities.
For the Dairy virus all they needed to do to control the virus was to
identify all the infected herds and isolate the dairy workers and keep
the workers and cattle from going to other farms. If that had been done
at the beginning, the dairy epidemic would be over by now.
For the D1.1 genotype they need to identify where the virus exists in
the wild, warn the poultry owners in those areas, and tell them what to
do if their poultry look sick. They need to be prepared to go in
rapidly and test suspected birds and minimize the exposure of the owners
to the D1.1 virus. They should also think about vaccinating backyard
bird owners against the D1.1 virus. This means that they need a rapid
test for the D1.1 virus, and they need to extensively survey wild bird
populations in order to determine where the D1.1 genotype exists.
Ron Okimoto