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 […]
Should I be worried about bird flu in Mass. — or in my milk? A local expert weighs in | WBUR
While public health experts are working urgently to better understand H5N1, CEID director Dr. Nahid Bhadelia reminds WBUR that for the general population, there isn’t currently need for concern or alarm about H5N1, especially because all Massachusetts grocery stores require milk to be pasteurized, which renders any potential H5N1 virus fragments inactive. Read more on […]
Four reasons to be concerned (but not freak out) about the bird flu | USA Today
Now is the time to be proactively studying H5N1 & preparing for the potential of an outbreak, CEID director Dr. Nahid Bhadelia tells USA Today. She adds that more testing in humans is needed to fully assess whether there have been more human cases than the single case reported in a dairy farmer. Read more […]
America’s Infectious-Disease Barometer Is Off | The Atlantic
The public is quick to focus on what is the newest infectious disease concern – and equally quick to move on when a new threat appears. CEID director Dr. Nahid Bhadelia spoke to The Atlantic about the current need to balance researching to better understand H5N1, while not ignoring other re-emerging threats such as measles. […]
H5N1: What do we know so far?
When: Thursday, May 9, 2024 at 10:00-11:00 AM Where: Zoom webinar (register here) Cases of the H5N1 strain of avian flu have been reported in US dairy cattle since March 2024. As we have seen avian influenza (or “bird flu”) has the ability to be transmitted from birds to mammals such as cows and humans. […]
Fragments of Bird Flu Virus Discovered in Milk | New York Times
“As long it’s not a live virus, it is unlikely that there’s any health risks,” explains CEID director Dr. Nahid Bhadelia. Due to both the pasteurization and digestive processes, there is little cause for concern about contracting H5N1 avian influenza through dairy products from potentially infected cows. Read more from the New York Times.
Bird Flu Outbreak in Cattle May Have Begun Months Earlier Than Thought | New York Times
With little information currently available on how long H5N1-infected cows remain ill & how long it takes to clear the virus from their bodies, CEID director Dr. Nahid Bhadelia says, “We just don’t know enough about the natural history” of bird flu in cows, to know how widespread it truly is. Read more in the […]