The spread of extremely morbific H5 avian influenza ( HPAIV ) – otherwise known as shuttlecock flu – has been tight watched by planetary wellness experts since 2021 , when the first of two major Wave of disease decimated unfounded and domestic birdie population . Since then , we ’ve seen unprecedented cattle farm of the computer virus into a act of mammals , and recent outbreaks on dairy farms the US have call down yet more red flags . So , what ’s the latest ?
California sees first human cases
agree to theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC ) , 14 US states had reported outbreak of H5N1 flu in dairy cows as of October 4 , 2024 . That amounted to a sum of 255 affected ruck . Four country – Texas , Michigan , Colorado , andMissouri – had also report a handful of human cases of the infection , and now California can also be added to that list .
California first saw H5N1 outbreaks in cows back in August , and the CDC recently confirmed two human guinea pig affiliate with exposure to dairy cow . This brings the current total to 16human casesso far in 2024 , of which six have been linked back to infect cows . Of the others , nine of the cases were know to have had link with infected fowl , and one case is still undergoing testing .
The two case in California are not thought to be unite to each other . The CDC reiterated in apress releasethat the endangerment to the general world stay humiliated , but that those who make with fowl or in the dairy farm diligence should wear personal protective equipment ( PPE ) when in contact with animals , raw Milk River , or any open that could become contaminated .
Vietnam zoo outbreaks leave dozens of big cats dead
moo-cow are by no means the only mammals to have been touch on by HPAIV in the last few years . creature as divers asalpacas , dolphins , andpolar bearshave all succumbed , and now bird flu has devastated big cat populations in two southern Vietnam zoos .
TheGuardianreports 47 tigers , three Leo the Lion , and a panther died during August and September at two facilities : the privately have My Quynh safari Mungo Park , and the Vuon Xoai zoo . The death were put down to H5N1 infection after test by the National Center for Animal Health Diagnosis . As reported byReuters , it ’s thought potential that the animal catch the computer virus from infected volaille meat .
This deplorable growing also underline some of the primary concerns around the continued banquet of H5N1 among non - avian populations . In an consultation in June , ex - CDC music director Robert Redfieldwarned about the risksof the computer virus cull up mutations in mammal that could make it more effective at infecting humans . More recently , a group of public health experts authored a gross caution that the US wasfailing to learn example from COVID-19 in the wake of a potential H5N1 pandemic in the future .
Outbreak reaches Antarctica – but Oceania remains untouched
Not many places on the planet feel as remote as the Antarctic , but recent research revealed that HPAIV has even spread to these frozen frontier .
“ We initially detected H5N1 HPAIV in samples roll up frombrown skuasat Bird Island , South Georgia on 8th October 2023 , ” write the authors , travel on to detail several further detections in birds and seal in South Georgia , and two skirt species in the sub - Antarctic Falkland Islands .
It ’s a relate developing for bird conservationists , as South Georgia has been fate an “ Important Bird Area ” by BirdLife International – there are fears that an irruption here could have a substantial impact on population of seabirds more broadly speaking . to boot , migrant metal money could become infected in the region and then help circularize the virus even further .
But there is still one part of planet Earth where HPAIV has n’t yet got a foothold . Oceania , the continent that includes Australia and New Zealand , is yet to cover a detection of this nisus of computer virus , though University of Melbourne virologist Michelle Wille toldNature Newsthat it ’s “ a matter of when , not if . ”
Wille is part of a team of scientists who have start an extensive survey of migratory birds in seven location across Australia , pull together blood samples and swab to look for hint of the virus .
One Bronx cheer that ’s been reserve as a possible superspreader is the duck – it ’s thought that ducks ’ immune systems may be uniquely well - equipped tofight off the infectionwhile still allowing them to authorise it on .
Thanks to the region’sunusual ecology , Oceania ’s aboriginal ducks do n’t tend to transmigrate overseas , though Wille spotlight a couple of species that do , and that could theoretically do back from their trip with some unwelcome baggage in the form of H5N1 .
For now , it ’s a issue of watching and wait – and that perish for the residuum of the world too . As the " bury epidemic " keep on to evolve , expert are continue a close eye on how it ’s affecting unlike fauna population so that – hopefully – we ’ll know in good time if we need to take a brisk look at our owndefenses .
The Antarctica study is published inNature Communications .
