The US will begin testing raw milk to detect the bird flu virus

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will begin a national testing program to detect the presence of the H5N1 virusalso known as “bird flu.” Analyzes will focus on milk prepasteurized at dairy processing facilities. The program requires anyone involved in milk production to provide samples to the USDA if requested, that includes: “any entity responsible for a dairy farm, bulk milk shipper, milk transfer station, or entire facility.” processing”. The ultimate goal is to identify individual herds where the virus is circulating. and use existing mechanisms to trace contacts, and restrict the movement of infected livestock.

A vector of bovine diseases

At the time of this publication, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has identified 58 cases of humans infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus, more than half of them in California. Only two occurred due to contact with agriculture, either with livestock; 35 cases, or poultry, 21. The genetic material of the virus has appeared in the milk supply and, although pasteurization should eliminate any infectious agent intact, raw milk is characterized by lacking this process, causing a partial removal of the market when the virus spread in raw milk. Science certifies that the virus can reproduce in other species if they drink milk from infected cows.

Although recorded human cases of bird flu have been mild, the current concern is that prolonged circulation in other mammals will allow the virus to evolve in ways that put humans at greater risk of infection or that the disease will cause more severe symptoms. . Therefore, The USDA’s commitment is to eliminate livestock and protect them in controlled spaces. When the department announced the establishment of this program, it noted that there were two vaccine candidates in clinical trials; Until its validation, it plans to use the standard manual for handling emerging infections: contact tracing and isolation. The USDA has the ability to force livestock owners to be more cooperative than the infected human population turned out to be.

Cases of humans contracting bird flu from cows are underestimated: CDC

A recent CDC study found that the human infection rate of the bird flu virus on dairy farms is higher than expected.

The five step plan

The USDA said that isolation and contact tracing are protocols within Stage 3 of a five-class plan to control H5N1 in livestock.the two previous stages being those of mandatory sampling and analysis; both must be managed on a state-by-state basis. Once the virus has been successfully contained in the state, the department will move to batch sampling to ensure that each district remains infection-free. This is essential, since there is no clear idea of ​​how many times the virus has jumped from the normal reservoir in birds to livestock populations.

Thus, the USDA makes sure to reach Stage 5, which it calls: “Demonstrate that American dairy cattle are free of H5.” Dairy cattle are likely to have daily contact with birds and the virus is regularly reintroduced into the population, leaving containment the only option until vaccines are ready. Testing will initially focus on states where increased transmission from livestock to humans has occurred, or where the virus is present: California, Colorado, Michigan, Mississippi, Oregon and Pennsylvania. The USDA will publish results and upcoming updates weekly.

Article originally published in Ars Technica. Adapted by Alondra Flores.