Public health officials and scientists are on high alert following the second-ever human infection of a “highly pathogenic” strain of bird flu from the cattle industry in Texas, as concerns for the agricultural market continue to grow.
“Don’t panic. Do be careful,” avian influenza specialist at Johns Hopkins Medicine Kawswar Talaat told the Washington Examiner as her primary piece of advice to the general public. “It is absolutely something that scientists are watching very carefully.”
On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the second-ever U.S. human case of H5N1 bird flu in a Texas dairy worker, marking the first case of cow-to-human transmission of the disease.
Although the risk of infection to the general public remains very low, according to scientific experts, public health experts and policymakers are diligently watching these new developments.
The first-ever case in the United States occurred in Colorado in 2022 at a poultry processing facility, but cases in cows are novel.
“Right now, this seems to be limited to bird populations and animals that have contact with birds,” Talaat said. “The fact that it is in cows is really unusual. We haven’t seen that before.”
Reports of H5N1 in cows began circulating in late March, with confirmed positive cases in cattle in Texas, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, and Idaho.
Talaat noted that H5N1 has been present in bird populations since 1995, but human-to-human transmission has not been recorded.
“The fact that it is now spreading among mammals is a little bit concerning,” Talaat said. “It’s one step closer from birds to people, but again, still not a concern that [it] spreads effectively from person to person.”
Although H5N1 virus cells have been detected in the milk from infected cows, health experts argue that this is an unlikely vehicle for cow-to-human transmission due to the pasteurization process. Farmers have been instructed to destroy the milk from infected cows as a precaution.
According to the World Health Organization, there have been 888 cases of H5N1 infection in 23 countries worldwide since 2003.
Most human infections with the virus are linked to close contact with living or dead infected birds or contaminated environments, and most of the cases are clustered in southeast Asia, China, and Egypt.
Symptoms for avian influenza viruses in humans are similar to traditional flu-like symptoms, often starting as a mild respiratory infection. More severe illness can progress if left untreated, leading to gastrointestinal and neurological problems.
Of the total number of cases, 463 deaths were reported to WHO.
The CDC reports that neither the 2022 Colorado patient nor the current patient in Texas have experienced severe symptoms and responded to treatment quickly.
Senior Biden administration health officials on Tuesday reportedly briefed congressional committees and leadership regarding the low risk of transmission among the general public, but they warned that the CDC will continue to watch for transmission to humans working in the agriculture sector.
Health officials reportedly told the congressional delegation that genetic sequencing revealed that wild birds in the Texas panhandle region likely infected the cows, which led to the recent human case.
House Agriculture Committee majority spokesman Ben Goldey told Politico that the committee is “closely monitoring” the matter.
“There isn’t a single member of the committee who hasn’t expressed concerns about this outbreak,” Goldey said.
When asked if public concern over the H5N1 outbreak was overblown considering the lack of human-to-human transmission, Talaat said she was encouraged by the rapid government and industry response despite the relatively low risk of widespread human infections.
“We often wait until it is a little too late to respond,” Talaat said, noting a “sense of panic and urgency” is usually the motivating factor for action.
The USDA maintains that the outbreak is unlikely to affect the price of milk and other dairy products despite suspected cow-to-cow transmission in dairy processing plants.
The largest producer of fresh eggs in the U.S., Ridgeland, issued a statement Tuesday announcing the destruction of 1.6 million laying hens following the detection of avian flu at one of its facilities in Parmer County, Texas.
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For the general public at this point, however, Talaat said the risk of contracting avian flu should not be a top priority.
“If you’re not handling birds, and you’re not handling animals that interact with birds, it’s really not yet a concern,” Talaat said.