This is truly great news!

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-begin-bulk-milk-testing-bird-flu-after-push-industry-2024-10-30/

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture will soon begin testing bulk raw milk across the country for bird flu, a significant expansion of the agency's efforts to stifle the rapid spread of the virus, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told Reuters.The move comes after livestock and veterinary groups pushed the USDA to strengthen its current surveillance approach, calling it inadequate to contain the virus, according to state records and industry documents reviewed by Reuters.Advertisement · Scroll to continue

The agency in early November will begin sampling milk in states where dairy cattle have contracted bird flu, including testing specific farms as needed to track the virus' spread, Vilsack said in an interview.USDA will then begin testing in states that have not identified the virus in dairy cows, he said.The rapid spread of the virus in California, where nearly 200 dairy herds have tested positive since late August, contributed to the USDA's decision that further surveillance efforts are needed, Vilsack said

"These situations evolve over time and as they evolve over time there needs to be a recalibration and adjustment," Vilsack added.The effort adds to an emergency order issued in April that requires testing of cattle moving across state lines, and a USDA program that covers farmers' costs for voluntary testing. Reuters previously reported USDA had softened those rules following

Robust consumer spending boosts US economy in third quarterBird flu has infected nearly 400 dairy herds in 14 states and at least 36 people, according to data from the USDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Virologists and federal health officials are also concerned the convergence of bird flu and seasonal influenza could enable the bird flu virus to mutate if people become co-infected, making it more easily transmissible among humans.

For now, the CDC has said the danger to the general population remains low.The U.S. Animal Health Association, whose members include the largest dairy, egg, and poultry trade groups, and the American Association of Bovine Practitioners, a veterinary group, developed recommendations this autumn for how USDA could improve its approach, according to the documents, which have not previously been reported.The USDA had previously said eliminating bird flu in the nation's dairy cattle was possible using its prior approach.The agency still wants to eradicate the virus, Vilsack said, adding that Colorado's use of bulk milk testing eliminated new dairy cow cases in the state.Dairy farmers in some states have resisted voluntary testing of their animals for fear of economic repercussions.

he U.S. Animal Health Association passed a resolution on Oct. 16 at its annual meeting that emphasized the need for a coordinated state and federal surveillance plan, according to a copy of the document seen by Reuters, which has since been posted on the association web site."The narrow requirement of pre-movement testing of only lactating dairy cows moving interstate is inadequate," it said. It recommends instead that the agency coordinate livestock sectors and states in a national surveillance and data collection strategy.

"We can’t wait for a virus to burn out. That strategy has not worked," said Keith Poulsen, director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, who has been involved in discussions about the new recommendations.The American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP) in September also drafted recommendations on how the USDA could better contain the virus, with weekly testing of milk tankers, among other strategies, according to emails and a copy of the draft obtained from the Missouri Department of Agriculture in a public records request.

"The disease continues to spread and current voluntary surveillance is inadequate," wrote AABP Executive Director K. Fred Gingrich II to a group listserv on Sept. 28.He noted that just 50 of the nation's 27,000 dairy herds at the time were enrolled in USDA's voluntary herd testing program, and that 17.6 million commercial poultry birds had been killed after flocks tested positive for the bovine variant of bird flu, suggesting that dairy farms are fueling the virus' spread.

There are now 64 farms enrolled in the voluntary testing program, according to USDA data.The document was sent on Sept. 30 by Missouri's state veterinarian to other state animal health officials and a USDA official at the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which is managing the agency's bird flu response, the emails show.The bovine practitioners group’s recommendations came after it had participated in a September meeting of the American Veterinary Medical Association alongside representatives from the poultry, cattle and swine industries, the emails show."

updated dashboard here

• Record: California again broke records, adding 41 new infected in 2 days (26 on October 25 and 15 on October 24)
• A few sporadic infections recently in Idaho
• Total human H5N1 case count in the US this year is now 38 (8 are from WA including 2 presumptive cases not yet confirmed by CDC—these are unrelated to the livestock outbreak but I'm adding it to the tally for now to avoid confusion)

This shows us just how much the media manipulates content. The CDC back in June wrote this about another study on the same Texas man:

"Summary of study findings

The study, completed on Friday, May 31, found that A/Texas/37/2024 virus caused severe disease (100% lethal) in all six ferrets that were infected. This is consistent with what has been found recently in ferret studies with A(H5N1) viruses, including two published studies conducted in the past year. Ferrets infected with A(H5N1) viruses from mink in Spain (A/mink/Spain/3691-8_22VIR10586-10/2022) and from a person in Chile (A/Chile/25945/2023) had severe illness that was either fatal or required euthanasia."

https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/spotlights/ferret-study-results.html?CDC_AAref_Val=https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/spotlights/2023-2024/ferret-study-results.htm

It's clear that the news has been downplaying the lethality of the cattle outbreak strain for quite a while based on nobody dying, which is a completely non-scientific assessment, and this caused everyone following the subject to believe the virus is harmless to humans. So of course when we have another study that says the exact thing we've always known about this virus, that it is extraordinarily lethal, it's presented as a huge bird flu revelation.

Also the recent study shows the same respiratory transmission levels as we have always seen in studies going back to the Spain mink study way before the cattle outbreak, yet the news is presenting this as a revelation as well.

Then as far as the study author, why is he saying this mortality is so unusual. He is quoted as saying it's one of the highest pathology he's ever seen. This shows these hugely respected virologists are not even reading the previous studies. He should have known this is the established lethality.

Also the author made a big deal in interviews about the E627K mutation being so rare and that it died out and that it may have caused the lethality. He has to know that previous studies over the last few years have shown E627K in lots of mammals, and that it is common and gets acquired on first infection and plenty of mammals without this mutation have the same lethality as with it, so it can't be the cause of the lethality.

This just seems irresponsible to me for a revered H5N1 virologist to not do any homework on any other studies and then start making claims that don't take any other studies into account.

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/bovine-h5n1-influenza-infected-worker-transmissible-lethal-animal-models

"A highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 virus, isolated from the eye of a farm worker who became infected through contact with dairy cows, was lethal in mice and ferrets infected in a high-containment laboratory environment, according to a new study in Nature. The study investigators also found that the virus isolated from the worker, who experienced mild inflammation of the cornea (conjunctivitis), could be transmitted through the air between separated ferrets and might be capable of binding to and replicating in human respiratory tract cells.

The virus isolated from the worker is called huTX37-H5N1 and has a mutation (PB2-E627K) frequently seen in avian influenza viruses that replicate in mammals, typically making virus replication more efficient. These mutations underscore the need for continued monitoring and evaluation of viruses from the current H5N1 outbreak.

The study also showed that a bovine H5N1 virus is susceptible to the antiviral drugs favipiravir and baloxavir marboxil (brand name Xofluza) of the polymerase inhibitor class, as well as the neuraminidase inhibitor zanamivir. The virus is less sensitive to oseltamivir (Tamiflu), another neuraminidase inhibitor.

In laboratory experiments, huTX37-H5N1 replicated in human cornea and lung cells. The scientists determined the lethal dose of huTX37-H5N1 as less than 1 plaque-forming unit (PFU) in mice, compared to 31.6 PFU as the lethal dose of a bovine H5N1 virus isolated from the milk of a lactating cow. The huTX37-H5N1 virus also infected each of 15 different mouse tissues tested, with the highest virus levels found in respiratory tissues.

Researchers also infected ferrets with a high dose of huTX37-H5N1. Flu infections in ferrets more closely resemble human flu infections than those in mice. All infected ferrets died within 5 days and scientists found huTX37-H5N1 virus in all the tissues sampled, with high levels in the respiratory system. In a prior study, the researchers had infected ferrets with a bovine H5N1 virus and, although it caused severe disease, lethality was limited.

To evaluate respiratory transmission, the scientists placed healthy ferrets in cages about 5 centimeters away from ferrets infected one day earlier with one of four decreasing doses of huTX37-H5N1. All directly infected ferrets died within 6 days and, depending on the exposure dose, between 17% and 33% of the nearby animals became infected via respiratory droplet transmission. These results indicate that a bovine HPAI H5 virus isolated from an infected person can transmit among mammals via respiratory droplets, though with limited efficiency.

The authors note that the person infected with the huTX37-H5N1 virus did not develop severe illness. In fact, human cases reported from the current outbreak have mostly experienced conjunctivitis and/or mild respiratory symptoms. The researchers speculate that eye infection with a low dose of bovine H5N1 virus might result in localized conjunctivitis without severe disease in humans. Multiple exposures to seasonal human influenza viruses, they say, might provide people with low levels of protection against currently circulating HPAI H5N1 viruses—though additional study is needed.

In summary, this study characterizes the huTX37-H5N1 isolate, finding that it may be capable of replicating in cells of the respiratory tract in humans, that it is pathogenic in mice and ferrets, and that it is capable of being transmitted by the respiratory route in ferrets. The authors note that “based in these observations, every effort should be made to contain HPAI H5N1 outbreaks in dairy cattle to limit the possibility of further human infections.”

Scientists from the University of Wisconsin at Madison led the research with collaborators from Shizuoka and Tokyo Universities and the Research Center for Global Viral Diseases in Japan. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, funded much of the work through its Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Response program."

Current Bird Flu Situation

Updated October 28, 2024​

• ​​​The current risk to the public remains low.  ​​
• No person-to-person spread of bird flu has been detected in California. 
• People rarely get bird flu, but those who interact​ with infected dairy cows, poultry, or wildlife ​have a greater risk of infection.​​
• Pasteurized milk and dairy products are safe to consume. Pasteurization inactivates the bird flu virus.

https://www.opb.org/article/2024/10/24/avian-flu-influenza-clackamas-county-egg-farm/

And guess where I live! Could it be... Clackamas county? Yes, yes it could.

https://seattlemedium.com/bird-flu-cases-washington/

I know this is inferred in other articles but they do seem to have previously made a point of playing them down - or is my memory playing tricks on me

According to health officials, the affected workers have not needed hospitalization. Dr. Steven Krager, local health officer for Benton and Franklin counties, reported that the workers are experiencing mild upper respiratory symptoms, such as a runny nose, sore throat, mild cough, and conjunctivitis, commonly referred to as “pink eye.”