More and more cows in the US are infected with the highly contagious bird flu variant H5N1. A significant portion of the milk in American stores (presumably about 20 percent) contains traces of the virus. That is scary, the science editors of the New York Times also note. Because the bird flu virus has now penetrated mammals, which live among us in the millions. The virus only needs to take one more step to cause a new pandemic.
The facts:
Spread among cows
- The H5N1 bird flu virus has been confirmed in at least 33 dairy herds in 9 states, with the most cases in Texas, New Mexico and Michigan.
- The virus appears to spread between cows within the same herd, but also between dairy farms through animal movements. Or in other words: cows may infect each other. So transmission from mammal to mammal
- There are indications that the virus has also spread from cows to poultry farms via an unknown route.
Milk contamination
- High concentrations of the bird flu virus have been found in the milk of infected cows.
- Tests show that 1 in 5 milk samples from supermarkets contain traces of the virus, although the FDA says pasteurized milk is safe.
- The FDA is conducting additional tests to determine whether live, infectious virus particles are actually present in the milk.
Risks and measures
- There has been only one confirmed human case so far, but experts warn the situation must be closely monitored to prevent further spread to humans
- The USDA has implemented mandatory testing and reporting for dairy cattle moved between states.
- Good biosecurity measures, monitoring of sick animals and limiting animal movements are crucial to prevent further spread.
Although the likelihood of an outbreak among humans currently appears low, this situation illustrates the need for timely transparency, close monitoring and decisive action from governments to manage the risks, The Times writes.
But the previous pandemic has proven that when the time comes, nothing will help anymore, no transport ban, immigration ban, or keeping distance. Once it starts spreading, it can hardly be stopped. And the critical point has come a lot closer with the contamination of American cows.
The RIVM says that the chance of an outbreak among people is small. The annoying thing is that the RIVM also said the same about Covid 19 in December 2019.
