DAILY TRIFECTA: Bird Flu Into Dairy Cows And Your Eggs Shouldn't Run
Don't worry, Big Poultry is still getting paid
TITLE: H5N1: What to know about the bird flu cases in cows, goats and people
https://www.livescience.com/health/flu/h5n1-what-to-know-about-the-bird-flu-cases-in-cows-goats-and-people
EXCERPT: H5N1 most often infects domestic and wild birds, although some wild birds act as "reservoirs" for the virus, meaning they can carry and spread it without getting sick. These carriers include waterfowl, such as ducks, geese and swans; and shorebirds, such as plovers and sandpipers, the CDC says.
In the past 20 years or so, H5N1 has also been detected in at least 48 mammal species across 26 countries. These include foxes, bears, seals, sea lions and polar bears, as well as pet cats and dogs and farmed mink. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) maintains a map of where different mammals have been infected in the U.S.
This year, for the first time, H5N1 was detected in goats and cows. This marks the first time H5N1 has been found in ruminants, which include hooved, cud-chewing mammals like cows, goats and sheep.
The infections among goats were reported in mid-March on a Minnesota farm where ducks and chickens had previously tested positive for the virus. The first infections in cattle were reported a week later among dairy cows in Texas and Kansas, which also likely got the virus from birds.
After being detected in cows in Texas and Kansas, H5N1 infections were also confirmed in cows in Idaho, Michigan and New Mexico, according to the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. As of April 2, the department is also working to test cows in Ohio. (The USDA is regularly updating its website with new information.)
The agency has confirmed that the specific strain of H5N1 infecting cows in additional states appears very similar to the strain found in Texas and Kansas cattle. This strain matches one introduced to the U.S. by wild birds — known as clade 2.3.4.4b — back in 2021. Before that, the strain had spread mostly in Europe, Asia and Africa.
"[H5N1] could have been infecting dairy cattle a year ago. We just never thought about looking … for it," Dr. David Swayne, a bird flu expert who is now a private consultant after having worked for the USDA, told STAT. Experimental data published in 2008 suggested that at least one H5N1 strain can infect baby cows, so it's not totally unexpected to see the virus in cattle.
The recently infected cows have been reported to produce less milk, show poor appetite, develop cold-like symptoms and become lethargic. There have been no reported deaths among the cows.
H5N1 can occasionally infect people and can lead to death, with about 50% to 60% of reported cases resulting in fatal disease. More than 880 human cases of H5N1 have been reported worldwide since the late 1990s, according to the CDC.
Most often, human H5N1 infections occur after a person had close or lengthy unprotected contact — without gloves, a face mask or eye protection — with infected birds or with objects contaminated with sick birds' saliva, mucus or poop. These cases have not been tied to sustained human-to-human spread of the virus, but there's been some evidence of very limited spread between people.
Although H5N1 infections can be fatal, some people show no symptoms or only mild symptoms. Mild symptoms might include eye infections, such as conjunctivitis (pink eye), and upper respiratory symptoms, like sneezing and coughing. Severe cases can lead to life-threatening pneumonia.
Bird flu can be treated with antiviral drugs used for seasonal flu. The CDC also has several candidate vaccines prepared for manufacturing, just in case this or a closely related virus were to suddenly spread between people; seasonal flu vaccines do not protect against H5N1.
TITLE: Is it safe to eat runny eggs amid the bird flu outbreak? Here's what the experts say.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2024/04/04/bird-flu-outbreak-eggs-safety-runny-yolks/73191244007/’
EXCERPT: "Safely handled and properly cooked eggs" takes on particular importance as concerns about bird flu grow, said Darin Detwiler, a food safety expert and associate teaching professor of food policy at Northeastern University. "While H5N1 primarily affects birds, the potential for transmission to humans exists, making it crucial to handle and cook eggs with care to minimize any risk of infection."
To safely handle eggs means to store them in a refrigerator at 40°F or colder as soon as you come home from the grocery store to prevent the growth of bacteria, Detwiler said. You also want to avoid using eggs that are cracked or dirty. And remember to wash your hands, utensils and surfaces with soap and water after they come into contact with raw eggs.
The FDA also recommends keeping raw poultry and eggs separate from other foods to prevent cross-contamination.
"Properly cooked eggs" refers to eggs that are cooked to an internal temperature of 165˚F, the CDC says, which is likely to kill disease-causing germs. In other words, over-easy and sunny side up eggs with runny yolk are not considered "properly cooked," said Wade Syers, a food safety specialist with Michigan State University Extension.
In typical scenarios without bird flu outbreaks to consider, the USDA says that "everyone is advised against eating raw or undercooked egg yolks, whites or products containing them" — namely to avoid food poisoning caused by the bacteria salmonella, which can linger inside eggs and on outer shells.
The FDA says to cook eggs until both the yolk and the white are firm; and if you're planning on consuming "raw or undercooked" eggs, make sure they have been pasteurized, meaning they have been rapidly heated and held at a minimum required temperature for a specified time to destroy bacteria.
Even though Cal-Maine Foods said you shouldn't be concerned about eating contaminated eggs at this time, considering its the largest supplier of eggs in the U.S., experts advise caution.
TITLE: A Cruel Way to Control Bird Flu? Poultry Giants Cull and Cash In.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/02/science/bird-flu-aid-animal-welfare.html
EXCERPT: Last year, the Department of Agriculture paid poultry producers more than half a billion dollars for the turkeys, chickens and egg-laying hens they were forced to kill after the flu strain, H5N1, was detected on their farms.
Officials say the compensation program is aimed at encouraging farms to report outbreaks quickly. That’s because the government pays for birds killed through culling, not those that die from the disease. Early reporting, the agency says, helps to limit the virus’s spread to nearby farms.
The cullings are often done by turning up the heat in barns that house thousands of birds, a method that causes heat stroke and that many veterinarians and animal welfare organizations say results in unnecessary suffering.
Among the biggest recipients of the agency’s bird flu indemnification funds from 2022 to this year were Jennie-O Turkey Store, which received more than $88 million, and Tyson Foods, which was paid nearly $30 million. Despite their losses, the two companies reported billions of dollars in profits last year.
Overall, a vast majority of the government payments went to the country’s largest food companies — not entirely surprising given corporate America’s dominance of meat and egg production.
Since February 2022, more than 82 million farmed birds have been culled, according to the agency’s website. For context, the American poultry industry produces more than nine billion chickens and turkeys each year.
The tally of compensation was obtained by Our Honor, an animal welfare advocacy group, which filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the U.S.D.A. The advocacy organization Farm Forward collaborated on further analysis of the data.
The breakdown of compensation has not been publicly released, but agency officials confirmed the accuracy of the figures.
To critics of large-scale commercial farming, the payments highlight a deeply flawed system of corporate subsidies, which last year included more than $30 billion in taxpayer money directed to the agriculture sector, much of it for crop insurance, commodity price support and disaster aid.
But they say the payments related to bird flu are troubling for another reason: By compensating commercial farmers for their losses with no strings attached, the federal government is encouraging poultry growers to continue the very practices that heighten the risk of contagion, increasing the need for future cullings and compensation.
“These payments are crazy-making and dangerous,” said Andrew deCoriolis, Farm Forward’s executive director. “Not only are we wasting taxpayer money on profitable companies for a problem they created, but we’re not giving them any incentive to make changes.”