Photo: Madison Rogers/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Highly pathogenic bird flu has been spreading to cows in multiple states across the country, and in New England, it has been found in seals, foxes, and bobcats.
At least one person — a dairy farm worker in Texas — has been reported as being infected, said the Centers for Disease Control.
Some of the questions facing researchers are whether this strain is transmitting between those mammals, and if it could efficiently spread among humans.
Dr. Nahid Bhadelia, founding director of the Boston University Center on Emerging Infectious Diseases, said that scientists don’t yet know if the virus is spreading between mammals.
“We are a bit later than we think we are when it comes to outbreak response… We want to get ahead of the problem” by testing more livestock and more farm workers, she explained.
“An outbreak in dairy farms is very different than even an outbreak in a lot of wild birds. Dairy cows and humans have very close contact.”
According to the CDC, the current bird flu strain has been found in 36 dairy cattle herds in nine states: Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota, and Texas.
Dr. Bhadelia added that we don’t know if, or when, bird flu could mutate to spread effectively between humans.
“Not understanding how the transmission is happening right now does pose questions about whether this virus is doing anything that might be unexpected.”
Dr. Bhadelia said that there is no threat to the general population right now, and no live virus has been found in milk. But she did recommend that people avoid raw milk and sick or dead animals.
WBZ NewsRadio's Madison Rogers (@MadisonWBZ) reports.
Follow WBZ NewsRadio: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | iHeartmedia App | TikTok