The first call Dr. Barb Petersen received in early March was from a dairy farmer concerned about crows, pigeons and other birds dying on his Texas farm. Then the news came that there was a barn cat— half on one farm –He passed away suddenly.
Within days, veterinarians in Amarillo heard about sick cows exhibiting unusual symptoms, including high fevers, loss of appetite, and decreased milk production. Tests for typical illnesses were negative.
Petersen, who monitors more than 40,000 cows on more than a dozen farms in the Texas Panhandle, collects samples from cats and cows and works with a college friend and current veterinary diagnostic laboratory at Iowa State University. I sent it to Dr. Drew Magstadt, who works at .
The samples tested positive for the avian influenza virus, which has never been detected in cattle. This is the first demonstration that avian influenza, known as H5N1 type A, can infect cattle.As of Wednesday, the U.S. herd numbered 36 animals. infection was confirmedaccording to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“It was just a surprise,” Petersen recalls. „It was just a little bit of disbelief.“
At the same time, Petersen said, nearly every farm with sick animals also saw sick people.
„We were actively checking on humans,“ Petersen said. “There were people who took time off from work, even if they had never taken time off from work.”
So far, two people in the United States have been confirmed to be infected with H5N1, and recently dairy workers in texas The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it has been linked to an outbreak in cattle. Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, director of respiratory diseases at the CDC, told reporters Wednesday that about 24 people have been tested and about 100 people are being monitored since the virus appeared in cattle.
Daskalakis said the CDC has not seen any unusual trends in influenza in areas with infected cattle, but some experts believe that anecdotal reports of sick workers indicate multiple people contracted the virus from the animals. He said he had doubts about what he meant by that.
Petersen said some workers had symptoms consistent with the flu, including fever, body aches and stuffy or stuffy noses. Some had conjunctivitis, an eye inflammation detected in a Texas dairy worker who was diagnosed with bird flu.
Dr. Gregory Gray, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, is collecting samples from livestock and people at two farms in Texas. There are also reports that workers at farms where cattle were confirmed to have been infected have developed mild symptoms.
His research was extremely difficult. Many workers are reluctant to get tested. This may be due to limited access to medical care or fear of revealing personal medical information.
Without confirmation, no one knows whether the sick worker was infected with the bird flu virus or something unrelated, Gray said.
„They seem to be connected in time and space, so it's biologically plausible,“ Gray said.
Petersen said some sick workers sought treatment and were offered the antiviral drug oseltamivir, sold under the brand name Tamiflu.
Some farm workers who had contact with infected animals or people have been provided with medication, CDC spokesman Jason MacDonald said. According to federal guidelines, state health officials will be responsible for providing evaluation and treatment.
In addition to the H5N1 case and its household members, Texas health officials have identified two people at Dairy 2 who tested negative but had contact with infected animals, Texas Department of State spokesman Chris Van Dusen said. He said that he provided Tamiflu to health services. He said he did not know if anyone else was provided with antiviral drugs.
Dr. Kay Russo, a Colorado veterinarian who consulted with Dr. Petersen about the outbreak, said farmers are hesitant to let health officials access their land.
„This particular disease is seen as a scarlet letter,“ Russo said. “There’s such a stigma associated with it now.”
Russo called for widespread testing of cows, people and milk.
„You don't know what you don't measure,“ she says. „Unfortunately, the horse left the barn much faster than we could mobilize.“
Gray is worried about recent federal orders Requiring testing of all lactating dairy cows traveling between states could further impede cooperation. All laboratories conducting tests must report positive results to the Department of Agriculture. But he said many farmers may simply decide not to test, hoping the outbreak will last longer.
The reluctance of workers and farmers to allow testing has led to a „significant decline'' in our understanding of how the virus spreads, how big the infection is now, and how fast it will spread. „It's hindering us,“ Gray said.
„It's a negative, very negative impact,“ he says.
Petersen said he understands the fears of workers and farmers. She praised the farmers who were willing to allow the first samples to be collected to confirm the outbreak and reflected on what the results meant.
“I immediately think of the cows, the people who take care of the cows, and the families who run the farms,” she said. „You're thinking about the long-term big picture. Your mind starts going down that whole path of concern.“
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