COVID Thread

[Zeedox]

Person is diagnosed with bird flu after being in contact with cows in Texas

A person in Texas has been diagnosed with bird flu — an infection tied to the recent discovery of the virus in dairy cows.

apnews.com

The patient was being treated with an antiviral drug and their only reported symptom was eye redness, Texas health officials said. Health officials say the person had been in contact with cows presumed to be infected, and the risk to the public remains low.

It marks the first known instance globally of a person catching this version of bird flu from a mammal, federal health officials said.

However, there’s no evidence of person-to-person spread or that anyone has become infected from milk or meat from livestock, said Dr. Nirav Shah, principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Genetic tests don’t suggest that the virus suddenly is spreading more easily or that it is causing more severe illness, Shah said. And current antiviral medications still seem to work, he added.

 

[Gomez Adams]

It marks the first known instance globally of a person catching this version of bird flu from a mammal, federal health officials said.

And it happens in Texas. Go figure. I would have guessed Flordia, but same church, different pew.

However, there’s no evidence of person-to-person spread or that anyone has become infected from milk or meat from livestock

Uh huh. Yeah. It's early.

 

[Zeedox]

H5N1 Strain Of Bird Flu Found In Milk: WHO

The H5N1 bird flu virus strain has been detected in very high concentrations in raw milk from infected animals, the WHO said Friday, though how long the virus can survive in milk is unknown.

www.barrons.com

The H5N1 bird flu virus strain has been detected in very high concentrations in raw milk from infected animals, the WHO said Friday, though how long the virus can survive in milk is unknown.

 

[Zeedox]

Now pasturized even has fragments.

Fragments of bird flu virus genome found in pasteurized milk, FDA says

The test cannot tell if the virus is live. The FDA still assess milk supply as safe.

arstechnica.com

...announced that genetic fragments from the highly-pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1 have been detected in the pasteurized, commercial milk supply. However, the testing completed so far—using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)—only detects the presence of viral genetic material and cannot tell whether the genetic material is from live and infectious viral particles or merely remnants of dead ones killed by the pasteurization process.

Concern grows as bird flu spreads further in US cows: 32 herds in 8 states

https://arstechnica.com/science/202...eads-further-in-us-cows-32-herds-in-8-states/

Testing is now ongoing to see if viable, infectious H5N1 can be identified in milk samples.
So far, the FDA still believes that the milk supply is safe. "To date, we have seen nothing that would change our assessment that the commercial milk supply is safe," the agency said in a lengthy explanation of the finding and ongoing testing.

 

[Gomez Adams]

So how long is it before we have to start murdering thousands of cows? Shit. It's like end of days levels of bullshit going on and nobody seems to care at all.

 

[Zeedox]

So how long is it before we have to start murdering thousands of cows? Shit. It's like end of days levels of bullshit going on and nobody seems to care at all.

Not to worry, old chap. We'll call the Brits and ask about Mad Cow protocols so it goes smoothly.

 

[Gomez Adams]

You owe me a new keyboard.

 

[Zeedox]

Excellant!

 

[Zeedox]

Hold de presses...

20% of grocery store milk has traces of bird flu, suggesting wider outbreak

The milk is still considered safe, but disease experts are alarmed by the prevalence.

arstechnica.com

The FDA used a test called quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), which can only detect the presence of genetic fragments. In pasteurized retail milk, it is highly likely that those genetic snippets are merely remnants of virus particles destroyed during pasteurization. The FDA is currently conducting additional testing using egg inoculation tests, a gold-standard for detecting a live virus, to confirm the effectiveness of pasteurization. Meanwhile, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Jeanne Marrazzo, told reporters Wednesday that tests at the agency's federal labs so far did not identify live virus from any of its sampling. Additionally, several previous studies have found that pasteurization of eggs—which is done at a lower temperature than it is for milk—was effective at destroying H5N1.

 

[Gomez Adams]

Jesus.