After delaying, CDC releases data signaling for bird flu, distributed undiscovered in cows and people – public radio in South Carolina

The first study of the H5N1 bird flu epidemic of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to be published within the Trump administration, was released on Thursday.

The magazine has released data suggesting that some milk cattle transfusions in humans have remained undiscovered, including in states where milk flocks have not tested positively.

This comes after freezing in external communications that interrupted that of the agency Weekly Maintenance and Mortality Report, or MmwrThe basis for communication with public health. The publication on other topics resumed last week.

In a new study, researchers analyzed blood samples collected by 150 veterinarians who worked with cattle across the country and found that three of them had antibodies to the H5N1 virus, which shows recent infections. No one reminded that there were symptoms similar to flu or conjunctivitis. They were also not interested in livestock with known or suspicious infections, although one works with infected poultry.

The results emphasize the difficulty in detecting and controlling human infections based on whether a person seeks medical help or not, Gregory Gray, an epidemiologist of infectious diseases at the Texas Medical University in Galveston.

“If the circulating viruses of the H5 become more portable among humans, we will not be able to control the show, as viruses will spread rapidly and often subclusively,” Gray says.

Previous CDC studies that examine dairy workers have found that 7% have evidence of past infections, although only half reports symptoms. The work from Gray and his colleagues in Texas also shows that some cases in the workforce of the dairy industry are undetected.

“This means that our observation is not enough,” says Lauren Soer, a professor at the University of Medical Center in Nebraska, College of Public Health, “Any detection of asymptomatic or mild cases in this study tells me that we lack cases.”

A veterinarian in the study practiced in Georgia and South Carolina states that there are no known bird influenza infections among cattle.

A veterinarian, practiced in Georgia and South Carolina, says there are no some infections of bird flu among cattle.

The new CDC results are far from real -time reflection on Earth. The samples were collected in September – before the Federal Government launched its National Bulk Testing Program and the number of known cases of man has since climbed to almost 70. However, the new study has called for improved monitoring of livestock and dairy producers.

Just last week, a H5N1 version, which spread to wild birds and poultry, appeared in milk cattle for the first time. The consequences are not completely clear, but scientists are worried that this can create additional problems for the effort to stop spreading and ultimately vaccinates milk cattle. Researchers also look at whether the option can be more ramented to people, but this is not yet clear.

The delay of posting Mmwr According to the Trump administration – and the broader freezing in CDC communications – has reinforced fears among scientists and public health staff who follow the H5N1 outbreak. At least one additional survey of H5N1 transmission related to household cats has not yet been published in MmwrS

“We should never underestimate the flu,” Sauer says. “If cases happen more often than they are found in humans, we run the risk of lacking small changes that allow the virus to begin to spread much easier in humans.

Tracking human infections in the dairy industry is a continuous challenge during the bird flu epidemic. Health agencies have limited powers to monitor diseases on farms and workers are often reluctant to test.

Although the new CDC study turned out to be a “low” number of past human infections, it is not really clear “how many participants were really exposed,” Gray says.

“No matter how we perform these serological evaluations [antibody testing] We will probably miss real infections, ”he says. “I’m not surprised by the low distribution.”

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