Are we at the edge of another pandemic? H5N1

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Cows in the State Fairs.

Many state fairs display farm animals. Cows are being affected by H5N1. It severely damages milk production for several weeks until they recover. Their milk during that time shows very high levels of H5N1. So it is interesting to see what steps farmers are taking and the State Fairs are a good place to look.

Despite bird flu worries, number of dairy exhibitors at Iowa State Fair similar to 2023

Iowa has recorded 13 outbreaks of the virus in dairy herds, all in the far northwest corner of the state.

So what steps did they take to protect animals/people from H5N1 at this years State Fair?

Heifers — female cattle that have yet to be bred and produce milk — outnumber producing dairy cows this year, said Mike Eilers, superintendent of dairy cattle for the fair, though “overall, the numbers are similar to last year.”

“I think where in the past producers might have brought five cows and five heifers, they just brought all heifers this year,” Eilers said.

A report from the American Veterinary Medical Association says the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continue to have no concerns about the commercial milk supply because milk from infected animals is being diverted or destroyed and milk for human consumption is pasteurized, which kills bacteria and viruses.

On 27 June 2024, 9:49 am, I summarized the approach to survive a very deadly disease called H5N1. Since that time, more information has surfaced and I felt an update was in order.

This article has increased in scope. It is no longer just limited to H5N1 but also another condition known as West Nile Virus (WNV). More than 30,000 people in the U.S. have been infected with WNV since 1999. Occasionally, an infected person may develop more severe diseases such as "West Nile encephalitis," "Westmosquito Nile meningitis" or "West Nile meningoencephalitis. These two diseases (H5N1 and West Nile) are like twin sisters.

Summery

I have covered a lot of information over the past several weeks on the next potential pandemic called H5N1.
I have come to realize this pandemic will primarily be transmitted by insects, primarily Mosquitoes. Mosquitoes infect humans with a blood to blood transfer between infected to uninfected animals/humans.

Mosquito-borne diseases include: West Nile Virus, Encephalitis, Zika Virus, Chikungunya Virus, Dengue Fever, Yellow Fever, and Malaria.

1. You can protect yourself from mosquito bites in two ways. If you spend a lot of time outdoors you can create protective clothing (boots, clothing and camping gear) that repel mosquitoes by treating them with Permethrin.

2. You can also protect yourself from mosquito bites by applying mosquito repellent on you skin. This will provide short protection (several hours) to drive away mosquitoes. There are a variety of products available. They include DEET, Picaridin, IR3535, Oil of lemon, Para-menthane-diol eucalyptus, and 2-Undecanone.

3. Another product that can help prevent mosquito bites is Metofluthrin. Metofluthrin is a pyrethroid used as an insect repellent. The vapors of metofluthrin are highly effective and capable of repelling up to 97% of mosquitoes in field tests. Metofluthrin is used in a variety of consumer products, called emanators, for indoor and outdoor use. These products produce a vapor that protects an individual or area. Effectiveness is reduced by air movement. Metofluthrin is neurotoxic, and is not meant to be applied directly to human skin.

4. Accidents can happen. What to do immediately after being bitten by a mosquito? Treat the bit with Tecnu Topical Analgesic Anti-Itch Spray (Diphenhydramine HCl 2% ). There is another product that can diminish the effects of being bitten by an infected insect. It is called ChiggereX. This product contains 10% Benzocaine.

5. If you become infected with H5N1 treat the condition immediately using one of four FDA-approved antivirals for influenza: (1) Oseltamivir phosphate (Tamiflu), (2) Zanamivir (Relenza), (3) Peramivir (Rapivab), (4) Baloxavir (Xofluza). These are prescription drugs and will require a doctors prescription. Time is of the essence here. This condition will begin to destroy the human body and make it impossible to treat within a few days. Time is of the essence.

Nine farm workers in Colorado recently came down with H5N1. They were quickly treated with Oseltamivir and survived.

6. Some people are very vulnerable to mosquito bites. These are people with open wounds. Just covering the wounded area with bandages will not protect you. Mosquitoes can smell your blood and you become a prime target. This is also a problem for women who are going through their menstrual period. I suffered a small bleed and was attacked by around 50 mosquitoes in less then two hours outdoors.

7. Go on the offensive. Wage a war on mosquitoes. In general, mosquitoes live in a hot humid environment. They most commonly infest Ponds, Marshes, Swamps, and Other wetland habitats. So minimize their breeding grounds. Wage war on mosquitoes.

8. Use our friends. What, you didn't realize we have allies in our war on Mosquitoes? We have many friends. Some are birds like woodpeckers, some are other insects like dragonflies, some are fish like gambusia affinis.

9. Wastewater tracking of H5N1 can identify the specific regions in the U.S. where the outbreak is underway. One of these regions is San Francisco, California. This area could be Ground Zero of the outbreak. But we cannot monitor the threat because the funding for Wastewater tracking has been halted.

Humans are pitted against an ancient enemy. They have existed on Earth for over 130 million years, even during the age of the dinosaurs - mosquitoes lived here. A New York Post article recently noted, “Bird flu pandemic could be ‘100 times worse’ than COVID.” In my opinion, the effects of H5N1 could be very similar to the Spanish Flu that struck during the First World War and caused so many deaths that it brought the war to an end.

In the historic past, migrating birds were the long distance transport agents of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1. Seasonally they would move the infectious disease between the northern and southern hemispheres as the seasons changed from summer to winter. But now as humans have developed means of rapid transport, such as jet aircraft, the speed and distance this virus can spread is rapidly accelerated.

My mother and I are taking out annual trip to the Farmer's Exhibition tomorrow, where we'll be looking at chickens and cows and maybe even pigs. Should we wear our haz-mat suits?

We're all doomed anyway because of the climate crisis, we might as well enjoy what we still have while we can. It's only a matter of time before everyone's life is ruined because of a climate disaster.

The world is large and H5N1 is spreading around the world. I came across an article that discusses the outbreak of H5N1 in India.

Since 2006, when India’s first avian influenza outbreak was reported in Navapur, Maharashtra in a poultry farm, the country has reported outbreaks in poultry every year in various states, leading to the culling of over 9 million birds, resulting in substantial economic losses.

As reported in a 2023 article in the Indian Journal of Medical Research, between 2006 and 2021, the largest number of HPAI (H5N1 and H5N8) virus outbreaks were reported from Maharashtra, West Bengal, Kerala and Odisha, with over 25 outbreaks in each state. Most recently, as avian influenza continued to spread globally, four Indian states – Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Kerala – recorded cases of avian influenza in poultry in May and June of this year.

With wild bird-poultry interface aplenty in its wetlands on central migratory flyways, and with a massive poultry sector that ranks third in the world for egg production, how much at risk is India for an avian influenza pandemic in humans?

Only two human cases of avian influenza have been reported in India thus far, the most recent one being in a four-year-old-child infected with avian influenza A(H9N2) in West Bengal in May 2024. That child was reported to have made a full recovery. In July 2021, the first case of a fatal avian HPAI A(H5N1) infection occurred in a boy under 18 years of age in Haryana. The source of infection was not ascertainable in either case, although both cases had family-owned poultry or butchery businesses.

Source: Sitting ducks: how likely is a bird flu pandemic in India?

A recent article provides an update to consumption of dairy products in the U.S.

Inactive bird flu virus found in 17% of US dairy foods in study

One in six dairy products in U.S. retail stores contained signs of inactive bird flu virus this summer, regulators said, slightly lower than the numbers seen in a different survey when the pathogen was first found in the nation’s dairy herds.

None of the 167 samples, which included milk, ice cream, hard cheese, butter, cream cheese and aged raw milk cheese, contained viable H5N1 bird flu virus, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said. The results show pasteurized dairy remains safe to consume.

What about eating infected cattle???

Cows that test positive are removed from the commercial food supply. A test of hamburgers that were intentionally inoculated with the virus found that cooking made them safe for human consumption, said Emilio Esteban, the USDA’s under secretary for food safety.

So milk and milk products that undergo the pasteurization process are safe to consume and also meat from cattle that are cooked properly are also safe to eat.

I came across an interesting article that provided a timeline of the H5N1 pandemic in animals across the globe. Refer to Figure 1 in the following article.

Avian flu alert: Understanding the circulating influenza virus H5N1's threat

Maybe someone on the site with a little bit more brain cells then I have at the moment could rip this graph out of that page and add it to this link.

Bird Flu is on the move. This is a report out of the Philippines.

The threat of an H5N1 avian flu pandemic

Several regions of Philippines have reported outbreaks from H5N1 in Manila, Pampanga, Cagayan Valley, Sultan Kudarat, and, most recently, Leyte. The Philippines currently has no confirmed human transmission of bird flu.

The article then goes on to state: "Conjunctivitis, gastrointestinal symptoms, encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), and encephalopathy have also been reported in previous human infections with A(H5N1) viruses. Encephalopathy is a group of conditions that cause brain dysfunction that can appear as confusion, memory loss, personality changes, and/or coma in the most severe form."

According to the Mayo Clinic, "Encephalitis is inflammation of the brain. It can be caused by viral or bacterial infections, or by immune cells mistakenly attacking the brain. Viruses that can lead to encephalitis can be spread by insects such as mosquitos and ticks.

Is H5N1 spread by being bitten by infected mosquitoes and ticks like West Nile Encephalitis?

Here is the latest numbers of H5N1 in chickens and dairy cows in the U.S.

191 dairy cow herds in 13 U.S. states have confirmed cases of avian influenza A(H5N1) virus infections in dairy cows.

Since April 2024, there have been A(H5) detections in 35 commercial flocks and 21 backyard flocks, for a total of 18.68 million birds affected.

Source: CDC A(H5N1) Bird Flu Response Update August 16, 2024

In a few months the weather will begin to turn cold. Birds will begin to fly south for the winter. When that happens they will bring with them H5N1. It is an annual transition from north to south to north to south. Each time H5N1 is on the move and growing. It is transitioning the different species of birds and animals. And if the past history of our planet holds true, more and more species will fall victim to this plague. Humans are not immune.

I came across a recent article that discusses the recent outbreak of H5N1 in humans. The article states:

Human spillover of HPAIV H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b is very rare – as of June 2024, there have been 15 human cases reported within seven countries (Cambodia, Chile, China, Ecuador, Spain, the US and the UK).

Source: High pathogenicity avian influenza in Australia and beyond: could avian influenza cause the next human pandemic?

On 10 August 2024 at 1:31 PM, I reported information about West Nile Virus (WNV) encephalitis. At the time I came to the theory that severe cases of WNV and H5N1 may be twin sisters.

I came across an article today that discusses an outbreak of West Nile Virus (WNV) and Chandipura virus (CHPV) that is currently underway in India.

Since June 2024, Gujarat, India, has reported 148 acute encephalitis syndrome cases, mostly in children under 15, with 59 deaths (CFR: 40%). Chandipura virus (CHPV) is confirmed in 51 cases. The state has taken action with vector control, public communication, and an outbreak investigation. CHPV is a zoonotic arbovirus found in parts of India and some African countries, with potential vectors including sand flies, mosquitoes, and ticks.

Source: Pacific Syndromic Surveillance System Weekly Bulletin

According to Wikipedia, West Nile Virus (WNV) encephalitis is a member of the Rhabdoviridae family that is associated with an encephalitic illness, Chandipura encephalitis or Chandipura viral encephalitis, in humans. It was first identified in 1965 after isolation from the blood of two patients from Chandipura village in Maharashtra state, India and has been associated with a number of otherwise unexplained outbreaks of encephalitic illness in central India.

Bottom Line: If West Nile Virus (WNV) encephalitis and Chandipura encephalitis are spread by sand flies, mosquitoes, and ticks; is it too hard to believe that a sister disease Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 might also be spread by sand flies, mosquitoes, and ticks.

I came across a discussion of H5N1 in the State of Kansas.

Kansas water treatment plants find moderate levels of influenza

KANSAS – Earlier this month, four water treatment plants that serve a combined population of 180,000 in Kansas, reported moderate levels of influenza in wastewater. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been monitoring an outbreak of the influenza A (H5N1) bird flu.

“We looked at the global distribution and spread of bird flu infections in feline species between 2004 and 2024 and found a drastic rise in reports of feline infections starting in 2023, with a spike in infections reported among domestic cats, as opposed to wild or zoo-kept animals. This increase coincides with the rapid spread of the current strain of H5N1 among mammals,” Kristen Coleman, an assistant professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Health said.

In Kansas, Reno and Johnson counties reported having a 47.73 percentile for influenza this month. Two treatment plants in Saline County also reported low findings in the 20 percentile range for influenza.

Some Universities are beginning to form teams of scientist to tackle a potential H5N1 pandemic.

The University of Florida, Emerging Pathogens Institute (EPI) team is able to conduct testing for H5N1 viruses using different types of samples, such as wastewater and milk. The EPI is also one of a limited number of facilities in Florida able to test blood from animals and people for H5N1 antibodies, which serve as indicators that bird flu is circulating. It is currently the only institute in Florida equipped to isolate the virus. Isolating the virus allows scientists to analyze its features, which could provide researchers and vaccine developers with vital information on effective interventions against the disease.

UF EPI launches bird flu team to research H5N1 and assist Florida’s response

West Nile Virus (in my humble opinion, the twin sister disease to H5N1) shows signs of activity in Ohio.

Mosquitoes test positive for West Nile Virus in Mineral City and Fairfield Township

The Tuscarawas County (Ohio) Health Department reports that two more local mosquito samples have tested positive for West Nile Virus. The samples, collected on Aug. 6, were taken on Lindentree Road NE, Mineral City, and Pleasant Valley Road, New Philadelphia. These positive samples bring the total to eight mosquito samples with West Nile Virus detected in Tuscarawas County this season.

Mosquitoes are carriers of malaria and Encephalitis. West Nile Virus is the leading cause of mosquito-borne disease in the continental United States. It is most commonly spread to people through the bite of an infected mosquito. Cases of the virus occur during mosquito season, which starts in the summer and continues through fall. There are no vaccines to prevent, or medications to treat, West Nile Virus in people.