CDC preparing for ‘possibility of increased risk to human health’ from bird flu | ABC News
As federal health officials begin to stockpile H5N1 vaccines, CEID affiliate faculty Dr. John Brownstein commends the preparedness measure and explains it isn’t a sign for the general population to be overly concerned. “Public health, when it’s working at its best, is proactive and it’s actively looking for potential signals, is using all methodologies data […]
How fast is bird flu spreading in US cows? ‘We have no idea’ | The Hill
“[Many farmworkers] are socioeconomically vulnerable. … In some circumstances, it kind of requires the buy-in of the employer to engage in surveillance of these workers. And that hasn’t happened in a substantial way to date,” CEID faculty Jessica Leibler told The Hill regarding why there has not been more widespread H5N1 testing. Read the full […]
Bird flu in US cows: where will it end? | Nature
CEID faculty Dr. Jessica Leibler recently told Nature she hopes public-health efforts will begin testing industrial farm workers and their families for H5N1 so that any transmission in humans will quickly be detected. “Every time it gets a new mammalian host species, like cows, there’s more risk of human transmission and reduced human immunity,” she […]
Cattle may become a permanent host for bird flu | earth.com
“When you see symptomatic patients, that’s the tip of the iceberg,” CEID faculty Dr. Jessica Liebler told Earth.com about H5N1. She worries it. could remain undetected in various species for an extended period, potentially mutating and setting the stage for a future avian flu pandemic. Read more here.
Big Ag, Not Wild Birds, Is What Really Spreads Avian Flu | The New Republic
Avian influenza often hits birds harder, so it’s possible that pigs & cows are spreading the virus with few or no symptoms. CEID faculty Jessica Leibler recognizes that surveillance efforts are expensive, “But at minimum, being able to have ongoing surveillance of the workers in these industrial facilities would be really important to try to […]
Bird Flu Outbreak in Dairy Cows Is Widespread, Raising Public Health Concerns | JAMA Medical News
Though there have not been further reported cases of avian flu in farm workers, CEID director Dr. Nahid Bhadelia cautioned that some workers who are sick may not come forward for testing for fear of losing employment and that this could obscure additional cases. Occupational health records from the last few months might provide some […]
BU Researchers Weigh In On Emerging Bird Flu Cases In US | WBZ News Radio
Emphasizing the need for more H5N1 testing, CEID director Dr. Nahid Bhadelia tells WBZ News Radio, “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. Read or listen to the interview here.
Could bird flu become the next COVID? How worried should we be? | The Boston Globe
“We have to figure out how [H5N1 is] transmitting, how it’s evolving, and stop the transmission so we don’t get to a position where we have to think about how we do a broader response for this in humans,” CEID director Dr. Nahid Bhadelia told The Boston Globe. Read more here.
To stop a pandemic before it starts, protect dairy workers from H5N1 | The Washington Post
Because of pasteurization practices which render pathogens such as H5N1 inactive, general consumers don not need to be concerned about contracting avian flu through milk or other dairy products. However, as CEID director Dr. Nahid Bhadelia and CEID affiliate Lauren Sauer write in an op-ed for The Washington Post, “Preventing farmworker infections and uncontrolled spread […]
Scientists call new measures to control bird flu in cows ‘a drop in the bucket’ | Science
CEID affiliate faculty Lauren Sauer recently expressed her concern about the lack of widespread testing of animals for H5N1. “We’re not looking where we don’t already see indicators that the virus is there, and that never gives us enough information.” Read the full article from Science.