endoftheamericandream.com
by
MacIntyre describes the spiraling infections in animals as being “unprecedented” and says that urgent surveillance is needed to monitor whether H5N1 begins spreading between pigs or ferrets, animals which have a similar receptor profile to humans.
“I have been following H5N1 since 1997, and the current situation is extremely worrying,” MacIntyre says. “In the past, H5N1 epidemics in birds were sporadic and would die down after culling of infected poultry. Since 2021 the pattern has changed, and it has not gone away but steadily increased.” In this time, many new mammalian species have been infected. “Some may be suitable genetic mixing vessels to create a human pandemic strain,” she says.
As long as it was just spreading among birds, H5N1 was not a major threat to humans.
But now cattle all over the U.S. have been catching it.
In fact, cases have been confirmed in 21 herds in 7 different states…
The H5N1 bird flu virus has been found in a dairy herd in North Carolina, said state Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler on Wednesday, making it the seventh state in a little over two weeks to report infected cattle. “We have spent years developing ways to handle HPAI [highly pathogenic avian influenza] in poultry, but this is new, and we are working with our state and federal partners to develop protocols to handle this situation,” he said.
So far, USDA scientists have confirmed bird flu in 21 herds in seven states. Texas has the most, nine, and Barron’s magazine said Texas officials believe the number of infected herds is much higher. The Texas Agriculture Department said on March 25 that “a mysterious disease [that] has been working its way through the Texas Panhandle” had been identified as HPAI. Texas state epidemiologist Dr. Jessie Monday said that 40 dairy farms had reported cows with symptoms of the mystery disease, said Barron’s.
