US health officials to spend US$100 million on bird flu surveillance
US health officials are putting more than US$100 million toward ramping up surveillance of bird flu in cattle and people amid rising concerns that the outbreak has spread more widely than reported.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration will use the funding to detect and track the virus, called H5N1, that’s been spreading in wild birds, poultry and domestic cows, according to a statement Friday (May 10).
Scrutiny of the CDC’s response to health crises has risen after widespread criticism for inadequate early testing for emerging health threats such as Covid and the mpox virus. While just one H5N1 infection has been recorded in a person in the US so far, scientists have cautioned that virus has the potential to mutate into something far more transmissible and dangerous.
The CDC will use US$34 million to test for and analyse viral sequences, while another US$29 million will be dedicated to tracing and monitoring people who may have come into contact with the virus. Other funds will be used to study vaccine candidates and wastewater sites. The CDC is also distributing protective equipment to farm workers, prioritizing those with infected herds.
Observation of the virus has been spotty. Some dairy farms have hesitated to invite the CDC for surveillance, facing a potential financial impact if sick cows are found. Migrant workers who staff farms are leery of government officials, fearing job loss if they show signs of exposure to the virus. No states have invited the CDC to test, which has created blind spots in understanding the scope of the outbreak.
The CDC maintains that the risk to humans is low. However, six new farms reported infected cattle this week - up from the earlier count of 36 farms in nine states - prompting concern over the virus’s spread.
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About 30 people have been tested for H5N1 this year, and 220 have been monitored for symptoms. The CDC is ready to deploy epidemiological teams, but is awaiting states’ invitations, Director Mandy Cohen said in an interview Monday.
The Department of Agriculture is making funding available to dairy farms dealing with cattle outbreaks, including financial incentives to distribute protective equipment. Farms could receive up to US$28,000 each over the next 120 days, including reimbursements for veterinarian costs and testing, if they help increase herd surveillance.
The FDA will dedicate an additional US$8 million to support milk supply surveillance and pasteurisation. One in five milk samples contains fragments of the avian flu virus, the agency said in April, but pasteurisation kills it.
Tests for live virus in eggs have been negative, the FDA said. The agency said last week that it tested 297 retail dairy samples, and all were negative. BLOOMBERG
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