An individual in Louisiana has become the first patient hospitalized with a severe case of H5N1, and in another development Gov. Gavin Newsom declared an emergency in California's avian flu outbreak to expand the state's response.
The patient is believed to have previously been exposed to sick or dead birds on his or her property, according to Demetre Daskalakis, the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The person, whose sex was not disclosed, was not exposed to dairy cattle or related products, Daskalakis told reporters Wednesday.
“This is the first such case, a hospitalized case with severe illness in the United States,” Daskalakis said on the call. "Previously, the majority of cases of H5N1 in the United States presented with mild illness such as conjunctivitis and mild respiratory symptoms and fully recovered.”
H5N1 has been reported in 61 people across nine states, Daskalakis said.
The genotype of the virus found in the Louisiana patient was different than the genotype in the H5N1 strains detected in dairy cattle. Daskalakis said the CDC is doing additional genomic sequencing of this virus to identify differences from other strains.
When it comes to tracking H5N1 cases in dairy cattle, the Agriculture Department has begun a national milk testing strategy, which includes a federal order requiring raw, unpasteurized milk samples to be collected and provided to the agency on request, said Eric Deeble, USDA's deputy undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs.
Deeble said the strategy is “intended to increase USDA public health partners’ understanding of where the virus is present in the United States through a structured, uniform testing system that will help swiftly identify which states and which specific herds within them are affected with H5N1.”
“It will support the rapid implementation of enhanced biosecurity measures to decrease the risk of transmission to other livestock and, importantly, inform critical efforts to protect farm workers to help lower their risk of exposure,” Deeble said.
Thirteen states are so far taking part in the strategy, including California, Colorado, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Washington.
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Deeble also said USDA’s Center for Veterinary Biologics has approved seven vaccine field safety trials for vaccine candidates intended to protect dairy cattle from H5N1. One submission is already moving through that process, he added.
“It’s difficult to predict how long development might take as many outstanding questions remain about the transmission amongst cattle, the characterizations of the infection, et cetera,” he said. “However, USDA anticipates additional submissions and approvals for field safety trials as manufacturers continue to pursue vaccine development.”
In California, Newsom declared a state of emergency Wednesday to ramp up state and local staffing and contracting in response to H5N1. California has had 313 new cases in dairy herds in the last 30 days, according to USDA.
Newsom said in a statement that the proclamation will build on the testing and monitoring system already in place.
“We are committed to further protecting public health, supporting our agriculture industry, and ensuring that Californians have access to accurate, up-to-date information,” Newsom said.
Anja Raudabaugh, Western United Dairies CEO, told Agri-Pulse that she was happy to see the State of Emergency come out. She said it creates an opportunity to speed up quarantine procedures and broaden protections for currently unaffected regions.
"Hopefully it will free up more tools for the epidemiologists to gather data so that we can build the case for fast-tracking a vaccine," Raudabaugh said. "And I do believe if we control this in the livestock, whether it's dairy or poultry, we can control the viral load in the atmosphere and get control of the whole thing a lot faster."
She added that this shifting quarantine approach comes after the California Department of Food and Agriculture met with farmers over the last few weeks.
On Saturday, the CDFA also issued a recall on Valley Milk Simply Bottled, a raw milk brand based in the Central Valley. It marks the second recall of raw milk since avian flu outbreaks hit dairies statewide.
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This article was updated to include information from WUD CEO Anja Raudabaugh.
