Major outbreak of bird flu is feared among Texas farmers – group showing signs of illness as experts warn cases are much more widespread than previously thought
Experts have warned that human transmission of bird flu could be much more widespread than thought, as farmers believe Texas And being Wisconsin reportedly have symptoms of the virus but are avoiding testing.
Dr. Barb Petersen, a dairy veterinarian in Amarillo, Texas, explained that workers at a local farm where cattle have tested positive for the virus are experiencing tell-tale symptoms.
She said: ‘People had some classic flu-like symptoms including high fever, night sweats, chills, lower back pain’, as well as stomach upset, vomiting and diarrhoea.
They also often had “quite severe conjunctivitis and swelling of their eyelids.”
The USDA revealed it was collecting samples of ground beef from grocery stores in states with outbreaks, which will then be analyzed for the virus (stockpile).
The map above shows states with infected livestock. A total of 34 herds have reported cases of the virus
The above graph shows cases of bird flu in humans worldwide, reported per year. The colors represent different countries, with the light blue being Egypt and the orange being Cambodia
Meanwhile, veterinary researchers in Wisconsin – where the virus has infected cows – have reported several cases of local farmers experiencing bird flu-like symptoms.
But farmers are notoriously reluctant to seek medical care, meaning “many cases are undocumented,” said Dr. Keith Poulsen, director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.
So far, only one person has tested positive for the virus: a farmer in Texas who suffered from an eye infection.
But the CDC says at least 44 others are under surveillance for possible infections with the H5N1 avian flu virus.
It comes as the USDA announces plans to test samples of beef taken from slaughterhouses for livestock not used for human consumption.
They will also investigate whether cooking beef to the recommended internal temperature of 62 degrees Celsius kills the bird flu virus.
So far, no tests have detected bird flu in animal tissue, but last week the USDA said it had detected the virus in the lungs of cattle.
Tests on supermarket milk carried out by officials last week indicated that one in five products contained the virus.
However, officials insisted this posed no risk to humans and said pasteurization had ‘deactivated’ the virus.
A total of 34 dairy farms in nine states – many in Texas – have tested positive for the disease so far.
Dr. Keith Poulsen, director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, said NBC News that he had heard reports of people with the infection.
He added that farmers are not cooperating with testing demands, partly because of their long working hours and fear of being asked to cull their flocks – as poultry farmers do for their flocks.
It comes amid concerns that eight people in India may also have been infected with bird flu.
The two doctors and six workers at a poultry farm were all exposed to birds that had H5N1, officials said, and are being tested for the virus.
The local administrative office in Ranchi, eastern India, has also opened its own ‘bird flu ward’ to keep people in quarantine.
Nearly 2,000 chickens in the area have also been culled after the infections were confirmed.