United States: Researchers who investigate bird flu are growing worried that gaps in surveillance might keep them several steps behind a new pandemic, a dozen disease experts discussed with Reuters.
More about the news
Most of the researchers have been following the emergent new sublineage of the H5N1 avian flu virus in migratory birds since 2020.
However, detected in 129 dairy herds in 12 US states, the virus mutation indicates the beginning of a change that might bring the virus closer to becoming transmissible among humans. Other mammals, from alpacas to house cats, have also experienced these infections.
What more are the experts stating?
According to Scott Hensley, a professor of microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania, “It almost seems like a pandemic unfolding in slow motion,” and “Right now, the threat is pretty low … but that could change in a heartbeat,” as Reuters reported.
The experts noted that the earlier would be the steps to bring up warning of a jump to humans, the sooner it would be for the global health experts to take adequate steps to make arrangements to protect humans by manufacturing a preventive vaccine, along with large-scale testing and containment measures.
Currently, federal regulation of US dairy cows is only executed in terms of testing, limiting the scope to just herds before they are transported across state lines.
The local testing drive remains uncoordinated, although the testing of individuals that were exposed to affected cattle is negligible, as reported the government health officials and the pandemic flu specialists to Reuters.
According to Dutch flu virologist Ron Fouchier of the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, “You need to know which are the positive farms, how many of the cows are positive, how well the virus spreads, how long do these cows remain infectious, the exact transmission route.”
Moreover, Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, mentioned that the current surveillance program for humans is “very, very limited.”
Marrazzo even described the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s human flu surveillance network as “really a passive reporting, passive presentation mechanism.”
Rather, the US Department of Agriculture (DEA) is said to be more proactive in terms of testing herds. However, it is not making it public to reveal which farms are affected, as she noted.
Co-ordinated efforts are required – Experts
According to Gigi Gronvall, a biosecurity expert at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, “If you were designing the system from scratch, you would have one agency,” and “This is not the only example where we have environmental or animal problems that cause human problems.”
As per a USDA spokesperson, the agency is working in cohort “around the clock” with CDC and other partners in a “whole-of-government response,” while mentioning that current research reveals “America’s food supply remains safe, sick cows generally recover after a few weeks, and the risk to human health remains low.”
Moreover, as per a statement by CDC, it, “USDA, and state and local health departments across the country have been preparing for the emergence of a novel influenza virus for nearly 2 decades and continually monitor for even the smallest changes in the virus.”