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    • Apr 3
    • 5 min read

Update: HPAI/H5N1

(Updated as of April 27, 2024)


 

Upcoming Events

Monday April 29 @ 11:30am Eastern/8:30am Pacific:

  • We feel it timely to elevate opportunities for information sharing on HPAI/H5N1 through the lens of bioagriculture and cyberbiosecurity. 

BIO-ISAC | BioAg Briefing: HPAI/H5N1 Monday April 29 at 8:30am PT/11:30am ET 

Urgent action item: Dairy industry groups

BIO-ISAC has always offered complimentary staff cyberbiosecurity awareness training, security tools, network reviews and threat assessment reports to the bioeconomy.

BIO-ISAC invites and highly encourages farm co-ops, dairy processors, and farmers to participate in a network review/threat assessment ASAP. We will likely be able to help you fix what's found!

To schedule yours, please email help@isac.bio.


Confidential Disclosure

BIO-ISAC is collecting details from farmers about what's happening in their area and with their herds, in order to provide anonymous incident reporting from industry to regulators.

Share your insights (city or county, status of herd, needs): https://www.isac.bio/bioag


 

Active Situation (Updated, as of April 25, 2024/5p CT)

The virus known as H5N1 or highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) was confirmed by USDA March 25, 2024 to be found in cattle in the United States.

As of April 1, 2024, human transmission is confirmed from cows to at least one human in Texas. Humans have had H5N1 before, with more than 900 cases reported all time.

Note! Information about case fatality rates vary for H5N1 in humans. The individual initially reporting as the April 2024 case of H5N1 via dairy cows, has recovered fully.

Initial positives came from samples of unpasteurized milk from sick cattle at two farms in Kansas and one in Texas and an oropharyngeal swab at another dairy in Texas. Later testing demonstrated similar findings in other states. Cornell University virologists reported that samples from cats, birds, and cattle from Texas were tested and found positive. University of Minnesota also recently reported cases in goats exposed to infected poultry. As is well known, avian flu has impacted poultry for the past several years and the virus is currently detected in mammals in 20 states. 


New! On April 23, 2024, FDA confirmed the presence of the virus, through PCR testing, in pasteurized store-bought milk.


Impacted Herds

As of April 26, 2024, the following 34 herds in eight states have tested positive for H5N1/HPAI:

(BIO-ISAC is following state-level reports of herds with pending confirmations. To access our closed alerts, email help@isac.bio.)

 

Resources

CDC, EPA, FDA, and USDA@APHIS have updated materials and messages this week.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has published a technical review of the tested human specimen, from that sequencing report, “The genome of the virus identified from the patient in Texas is publicly posted in GISAID and has been submitted to GenBank.” This report details the samples sequenced from the human demonstrating a unique mutation. At this time, it does not appear to have spread to other humans from this individual. 

The Environmental Protection Agency has published a list of disinfectants effective against Avian Influenzas and asks dairy farms and other individuals interacting with those livestock potentially at risk of spreading H5N1 to verify the effectiveness of disinfectants AND the proper contact time for use.

Note! Disinfectant users may need to convert contact time recommendations from minutes (on the product label) to seconds to ensure efficacy. "List M" linked above details the proper contact times.


The Food and Drug Administration has published an FAQ guide regarding milk safety and HPAI outbreaks.

Note! Milk from infected animals is NOT supposed to enter the food supply. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has released FAQs regarding the detection of HPAI/H5N1 in Dairy Herds:

On April 21, 2024, APHIS released 239 genetic sequences from a variety of species testing positive for H5N1. Concerns have been raised among researchers, as key meta data and other valuable content is missing from the dataset.

 

Dairy Farmers: Requested Action

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has published Recommendations for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Livestock for State Animal Health Officials.

"Producers should practice enhanced biosecurity, minimize animal movements, test animals before movement, and isolate animals moved on or off premises. Additional detailed actions are provided below this section, subject to updates as information is gathered." -- United States Dept of Agriculture

  Farms are asked to immediately update and/or produce a written biosecurity plan.

Note! If you need a place to start, the Center for Dairy Excellence in PA has an Everyday Biosecurity Kit to help your efforts and hosted a webinar to discuss the tools and use. Please contact help@isac.bio if further assistance is needed.

Farms are also asked to: 

  1. Expedite testing for HPAI (H5N1) via milk samples or nasal swabs by working with your veterinarians. APHIS will reimburse for initial testing of suspect animals at NAHLN labs, a FAD/EP number is required (the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory has instructions).

  2. Monitor the herds for signs of sickness such as lower feed consumption and milk yield (~30% change) or discolored milk that resembles colostrum

  3. Heighten protocols to control disease and prevent it (tips at Secure Milk Supply)

  4. Have workers wear PPE and avoid contact or activities around those confirmed or suspected to have HPAI (H5N1) As of April 15th, CDC has PPE instructions available for farm workers (English, Spanish).

  5. Anyone exposed to the virus should be monitored for symptoms for 10 days and be tested if any new symptoms are experienced. Share your voice! BIO-ISAC is collecting the details (city or county, status of herd, needs) to share anonymously: https://www.isac.bio/bioag 

 

Research

Researchers at Iowa State University shared an in-depth analysis, "Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A (H5N1) clade 2.3.4.4b Virus detected in dairy cattle." Published April 16, 2024, the article reviews the specific findings, citing,

"The detection of this virus in bovine milk...underscores the need for public awareness, pasteurization of milk to maintain adequate food safety, outbreak management, and a holistic approach to human health management."

Surveillance Testing

Additional wildlife or farm animals may spread H5N1 and currently not be part of epidemiological programs in your area. Testing specimens from deceased or sick animals will support awareness.


The Animal Health Diagnostic Center at Cornell University is encouraging veterinarians to send samples from cows and other animals for any disease outbreak for testing.  

Vaccines and Treatments

Testing is underway to determine the protection rates for dose(s) of the current H5N1 vaccines developed for prior strains as well as antivirals thought to relate. Additionally, a conversation on developing a vaccine for dairy cows was reported from the University of Minnesota April 17, 2024.


 

A Note on Misinformation Campaigns

Unfortunately, our online conversations face misinformation campaigns, efforts to confuse direct narratives on hot issues.


Already, H5N1 has caused a noisy conversations, with some data points blurred at the hands of "armchair" statisticians. Confusing representations of wastewater testing data, case fatality rates, and other not-best analyses are already misleading anxiety levels and conversations about individual safety.


We at BIO-ISAC are doing our best to quickly verify the best sources to-date on a given aspect of this evolving incident, while also making sure to support those raising early warning signs. Not sure about something? Send us an email and we will check it out.


For more about misinformation detection, check out Cranky Uncle!

 

BIO-ISAC has been in contact with individuals at several farms offering support. If you require assistance in reporting incidents involving your facility, please contact help@isac.bio.


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