Missouri Healthcare Workers in Contact with Bird Flu Patient Reporting Symptoms

Missouri Healthcare Workers in Contact with Bird Flu Patient Reporting Symptoms

The last time I reported on Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (i.e., “bird flu”), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a patient in Missouri was hospitalized with bird flu despite having no known contact with animals.

Before this report, all human bird flu infections were confined to poultry workers, dairy farmers, and cattle ranchers. As it appears in humans, the infection is mild, with cases of “pink eye” being a distinguishing characteristic.

Now, seven people in contact with a patient hospitalized with bird flu also developed symptoms,

some of whom were undergoing further tests. The potential for human-to-human transmission is now being evaluated.

If confirmed, the cases in Missouri could indicate that the virus may have acquired the ability to infect people more easily. Worldwide, clusters of bird flu among people are extremely rare. Most cases have resulted from close contact with infected birds.

Health officials in Missouri initially identified a patient with bird flu who was hospitalized last month with unusual symptoms. The patient may have infected one household member and six health care workers, all of whom developed symptoms, according to the C.D.C.

Investigators have not yet confirmed whether any of those seven individuals were infected with the virus, called H5N1, leaving open the possibility that they had Covid or some other illness with flulike symptoms.

All the hospital workers associated with “patient zero’s” care have been evaluated. The few with symptoms did not develop serious illnesses, and their symptoms have resolved.

To give an idea of the scope of the investigation, 18 health-care workers have been identified as having high-risk exposure to the patient, and 94 others had contact that was considered low-risk, the CDC said.

The six health-care workers who fell ill did not have severe symptoms, and they have since resolved. One worker tested negative for influenza at the time of their illness. The other five will have their blood tested to see whether they have antibodies against the virus, which would show whether they had a past H5N1 infection, the CDC added.

It has been three weeks since the CDC and Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services announced that a person who had no contact with animals had tested positive for H5N1, the 14th human infection in the United States since April.

While the bird flu doesn’t seem to be progressing in its bid to be the designated killer pandemic for this election season, the Biden administration insists that increasing egg prices are due to bird flu.

Eggs’ price tag has gone up by 28.1 percent in the last 12 months, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average price for a dozen large eggs was $3.20, according to the bureau’s statistics.

The spikes in prices occurred, in part, because of the high demand for the product, but also due to the bird flu outbreak at chicken farms in Colorado in July.

“Bird flu is the number one reason for higher prices, absolutely,” Phil Lempert, a grocery industry analyst, told CNN.

Bird flu is now being reported at California dairy farms, with 34 bovine cases being reported.

A spokesman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture said they expect more cases to be announced in the coming days and weeks, as testing continues.

With roughly 1,100 dairy herds in California — and 90% located in the San Joaquin Valley — concern is palpable, say industry insiders. Outbreaks interrupt milk production at affected dairies. Not only are the infected herds quarantined, but special testing must be conducted at nearby dairy farms as well.

…It is still unclear how the virus got into the state, but genetic sequencing suggests the virus is similar to that found in infected cattle in other states — and that it did not come from wild birds.

To round out the news related to bird flu, an Australian firm just received over $120 million to create a stockpile of 40 million bird flu vaccine doses for the US.

Australia’s CSL, said on Wednesday it has got a contract from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) worth $121.4 million to increase the U.S. government’s stockpile for bird flu vaccines to 40 million doses.

Under the multi-year contract CSL will deliver its MF59 adjuvant, an ingredient that can be used to manufacture vaccines against the H5 avian influenza virus.

“This decision will further support the U.S. government’s pandemic preparedness efforts,” CSL said.
The funding is part of a partnership with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

Here is a timely reminder from the last bad flu season we had in 2018 as to when to seek medical attention when stricken with the flu.

Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.