CDC preparing for ‘possibility of increased risk to human health’ from bird flu
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Monthly Archives: May 2024
Bird Flu (H5N1) Explained: Study Suggests Drinking Infected Milk Could Spread Disease
Forbes Staff
Johnson is a reporter on the Forbes news desk who covers explainers.Follow
May 24, 2024,10:53am EDT
TOPLINE
Here’s the latest news about a global outbreak of H5N1 bird flu that started in 2020, and recently spread among cattle in U.S. states and marine mammals across the world, which has health officials closely monitoring it and experts concerned the virus could mutate and eventually spread to humans, where it has proven rare but deadly.
TIMELINE
May 23A new study with mice suggests that drinking infected milk can spread the disease—and that a certain type of pasteurization may not always be effective in killing the virus.
May 22Michigan reported bird flu in a farmworker on Wednesday—the second U.S. human case tied to transmission from dairy cows—though the worker had a mild infection and has since recovered.
PROMOTED
May 21Australia reported its first human case of bird flu Tuesday after a child became infected in March after traveling to India, though the child has since recovered after suffering from a “severe infection,” according to the Victorian Department of Health.
May 16The USDA conducted a study, and discovered that after high levels of the virus was injected into beef, no trace was left after the meat was cooked medium to well done, though the virus was found in meat cooked to lower temperatures.
May 14The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released influenza A waste water data for the weeks ending in April 27 and May 4, and found several states like Alaska, California, Florida, Illinois and Kansas had unusually high levels, though the agency isn’t sure if the virus came from humans or animals, and isn’t able to differentiate between influenza A subtypes, meaning the H5N1 virus or other subtypes may have been detected.
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May 10The Food and Drug Administration announced it will commit an additional $8 million to ensure the commercial milk supply is safe, while the Department of Agriculture said it will pay up to $28,000 per farm to help mitigate the spread of the disease, totaling around $98 million in funds.
May 9Some 70 people in Colorado are being monitored for bird flu due to potential exposure, and will be tested for the virus if they show any symptoms, the Colorado Department of Public Health told Forbes—it was not immediately clear how or when the people were potentially exposed.
May 1The Department of Agriculture said it tested 30 grocery store ground beef products for bird flu and they all came back negative, reaffirming the meat supply is safe.
May 1The Food and Drug Administration confirmed dairy products are still safe to consume, announcing it tested grocery store samples of products like infant formula, toddler milk, sour cream and cottage cheese, and no live traces of the bird flu virus were found, although some dead remnants were found in some of the food—though none in the baby products.
April 30Wenqing Zhang, head of the World Health Organization’s Global Influenza Programme, said during a news briefing “there is a risk for cows in other countries to be getting infected,” with the bird flu virus, since it’s commonly spread through the movement of migratory birds.
April 29The Department of Agriculture told Forbes it will begin testing ground beef samples from grocery stores in states with cow outbreaks, and test ground beef cooked at different temperatures and infected with the virus to determine if it’s safe to eat.
April 24The USDA said cow-to-cow transmission may be occurring due to the cows coming into contact with raw milk—and warned against humans and other animals, including pets, consuming unpasteurized milk to prevent potential infection.
April 18Jeremy Farrar, chief scientist for the World Health Organization, said during a press conference the threat of bird flu spreading between humans was a “great concern,” since it’s evolved and has increasingly been infecting mammals (on land and sea), which means it could possibly spread to humans.
April 1The CDC reported the second U.S. human case of bird flu in a Texas dairy farmer who became infected after contracting the virus from infected dairy cows, but said the person was already recovering.
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CAN BIRD FLU SPREAD BETWEEN HUMANS?
Bird flu doesn’t “transmit easily from person-to-person,” according to the World Health Organization. Bird flu rarely affects humans, and most previous cases came from close contact with infected poultry, according to the CDC. Because human-to-human spread of bird flu poses “pandemic potential,” each human case is investigated to rule out this type of infection. Though none have been confirmed, there are a few global cases—none in the U.S.—where human-to-human transmission of bird flu was thought to be “probable,” including in China, Thailand, Indonesia and Pakistan.
IS BIRD FLU FATAL TO HUMANS?
It is very deadly. Between January 2003 and March 28, 2024 there have been 888 human cases of bird flu infection in humans, according to a report by the World Health Organization. Of those 888 cases, 463 (52%) died. To date, only two people in the U.S. have contracted H5N1 bird flu, and they both were infected after coming into contact with sick animals. The most recent case was a dairy worker in Texas who became ill in March after interacting with sick dairy cows, though he only experienced pink eye. The first incident happened in 2022 when a person in Colorado contracted the disease from infected poultry, and fully recovered.
IS IT SAFE TO DRINK MILK INFECTED WITH BIRD FLU?
Raw, unpasteurized milk is unsafe to drink, but pasteurized milk is fine, according to the FDA. Bird flu has been detected in both unpasteurized and pasteurized milk, but the FDA recommends manufacturers against making and selling unpasteurized milk since there’s a possibility consuming it may cause bird flu infection. However, the virus remnants in pasteurized milk have been deactivated by the heat during the pasteurization process, so this type of milk is still believed safe to consume.
IS IT SAFE TO CONSUME MEAT INFECTED WITH BIRD FLU?
The CDC warns against eating raw meat or eggs from animals “confirmed or suspected” of having bird flu because of the possibility of transmission. However, no human has ever been infected with bird flu from eating properly prepared and cooked meat, according to the agency. The possibility of infected meat entering the food supply is “extremely low” due to rigorous inspection, so properly handled and cooked meat is safe to eat, according to the USDA. To know when meat is properly cooked, whole beef cuts must be cooked to an internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit, ground meat must be 160 degrees and poultry must be cooked to 165 degrees. Rare and medium rare steaks fall below this temperature. Properly cooked eggs with an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit kills bacteria and viruses including bird flu, according to the CDC. “It doesn’t matter if they may or may not have [avian] influenza… runny eggs and rare pieces of meat” are never recommended, Francisco Diez-Gonzalez, director and professor for the Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia, told Forbes. To “play it safe,” consumers should only eat fully cooked eggs and make sure “the yolks are firm with no runny parts,” Daisy May, veterinary surgeon with U.K.-based company Medivet, said.
WHAT ARE BIRD FLU SYMPTOMS IN HUMANS?
Symptoms of bird flu include a fever, cough, headache, chills, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, runny nose, congestion, sore throat, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, pink eye, muscle aches and headache. However, the CDC advises it can’t be diagnosed based on symptoms alone, and laboratory testing is needed. This typically includes swabbing the nose or throat (the upper respiratory tract), or the lower respiratory tract for critically ill patients.
HOW IS BIRD FLU AFFECTING EGG PRICES?
This year’s egg prices have increased as production decreased due to bird flu outbreaks among poultry, according to the USDA. A dozen large, grade A eggs in the U.S. costed around $2.99 in March, up almost a dollar from the fall. However, this price is down from a record $4.82 in January 2023, which was also spiked by bird flu outbreaks. Earlier this month, Cal-Maine Foods—the country’s largest egg producer—temporarily halted egg production after over one million egg-laying hens and chickens were killed after being infected with bird flu.
WHY DO POULTRY FARMERS KILL CHICKENS WITH BIRD FLU?
Once chickens have been infected with bird flu, farmers quickly kill them to help control the spread of the virus, since bird flu is highly contagious and fatal in poultry. The USDA pays farmers for all birds and eggs that have to be killed because of bird flu, as an incentive to responsibly try and curb the spread of the disease. The USDA has spent over $1 billion in bird flu compensation for farmers since 2022, according to the nonprofit Food & Environment Reporting Network.
IS THERE A VACCINE FOR THE BIRD FLU (H5N1)?
The FDA has approved a few bird flu vaccines for humans. The U.S. has a stockpile of vaccines for H5N1 bird flu, but it wouldn’t be enough to vaccinate all Americans if an outbreak were to happen among humans. If a human outbreak does occur, the government plans to mass produce vaccines, which can take at least six months to make enough for the entire population. Sequirs, the maker of one of the approved vaccines, expects to have 150 million vaccines ready within six months of an announcement of a human bird flu pandemic. Although there are approved vaccines for other variants designed for birds, there are none for the H5N1 variant circulating. However, the USDA began trials on H5N1 animal-specific vaccines in 2023.
KEY BACKGROUND
As of May 14, more than 90 million poultry (primarily chickens) in 48 states have been euthanized because of bird flu since 2022, and 46 dairy cow herds across nine states have tested positive, according to data from the CDC (unlike chickens, cows appear to recover from the virus). The USDA believes wild migratory birds are the original source of the cow outbreaks that recently has experts concerned it may mutate and spread more easily in humans, though the CDC said its risk to the public remains low. Farrar called the cattle infections in the U.S. a “huge concern,” urging public health officials to continue closely monitoring the situation “because it may evolve into transmitting in different ways.” The increased number of mammal bird flu infections since 2022 “could indicate that the virus is looking for new hosts, and of course, moving closer to people,” Andrea Garcia, vice president of science, medicine and public health for the American Medical Association, said. More than 10 human bird flu cases were reported to the World Health Organization in 2023, and all but one survived. Bird flu has devastated bird populations, and 67 countries reported the deaths of 131 million poultry in 2022 alone. Although bird flu typically infects wild birds and poultry, it’s spread to other animals during the outbreak, and at least 10 countries have reported outbreaks in mammals since 2022. Around 17,400 elephant seal pups died from bird flu in Argentina in 2023, and at least 24,000 sea lions died in South America the same year. Besides cattle, bird flu has been detected in over 200 other mammals—like seals, raccoons and bears—in the U.S. since 2022. Although rare, even domestic pets like dogs and cats are susceptible to the virus, and the FDA warns against giving unpasteurized milk to cats to avoid possible transmission.
FURTHER READING
WHO Warns Threat Of Bird Flu Spreading To Humans Is ‘Great Concern’ (Forbes)
One In Five Milk Samples From Across US Had Traces Of Bird Flu Virus, FDA Says (Forbes)
Can Pets Get Bird Flu? Here’s What To Know (Forbes)
Avian H5N1 (Bird) Flu: Why Experts Are Worried—And What You Should Know (Forbes)
Killer whales keep ramming and sinking boats. Scientists now may know why, report says.
An international group of orca experts met to determine why orcas are ramming boats. The leading theory: They’re bored and playful.
USA TODAY
For the last five years, killer whales have been ramming – and in some cases sinking – expensive yachts, fishing boats and motorboats in the crystalline waters off the coast of Spain, Portugal, France and Morocco.
Why has been a mystery – until recently.
A multinational group of orca experts that met in February and were sponsored by the governments of Spain and Portugal has released a report outlining why they think it’s happening and what can be done to stop it.
What originally appeared to be attacks on more than 673 boats since 2020 now seem more likely to be a bunch of bored teenage orcas looking for something to do, said cetacean expert Alexandre Zerbini. Essentially, the whales started a fad of playing with boat rudders.
The report comes two weeks after the first ramming of the season, which resulted in a sailboat sinking at the southern entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar. On the morning of May 12, a group of orcas snuck up on a 50-foot sailboat and dove at its rudder, damaging the Alborán Cognac and causing a leak that eventually sank the boat. The two crew members were evacuated to a nearby oil tanker, according to the Spanish newspaper El Pais.https://e.infogram.com/_/FRBWncGkqTNz2spmf0QF?src=embed#async_embed
These encounters have been going on for five years, with the first documented encounter happening in May 2020. Since then, at least five sailboats and two Moroccan fishing boats have been sunk.
“It starts in the spring, goes way off the charts in the summer and goes away in fall. That’s because the whales and boats are in the same area at the same time,” said Naomi Rose, a senior scientist with the Animal Welfare Institute in Washington, D.C., who was part of the working group.
This group of orcas interacts with the vessels because they are being enriched by the experience, said Renaud de Stephanis, president of CIRCE (Conservación, Información y Estudio sobre Cetáceos), an organization dedicated to preserving marine life. De Stephanis has been studying orca behavior for over 25 years and was also at the gathering of scientists in Madrid.
“The sea is a very boring place for an animal,” said de Stephanis. “Imagine if you’re a dog or some other mammal, you can interact with objects around you. But in the sea there’s not much for the orcas to interact with, so they play with the rudders.”https://e.infogram.com/_/r4YDmRBUp4tADuMnX7a4?src=embed#async_embed
A dangerous game for young, bored whales
Overall the incidents have mostly involved juveniles, who are “more playful and courageous in approaching boats,” said Zerbini, who also chairs the International Whaling Commission’s scientific committee.
He imagines a young orca butted its head against a boat’s rudder one time and when it moved, the orca thought, “This is fun.” After ramming it a few times, a piece of the rudder broke off and that was even more fun because there was something to play with.
“There’s documented evidence of the orcas then playing with the pieces,” he said.https://e.infogram.com/_/76LOmrgaiJL6kdp8N5QS?src=embed#async_embed
Orcas, which are also called killer whales, are actually the largest member of the dolphin family. Dolphins in turn are a type of toothed whale, a group that also includes porpoises, beaked whales and sperm whales.
This type of behavior isn’t surprising, given that orcas have culture, exhibit coordinated behavior, share knowledge and have long memories, said Rose.
“It’s a very sophisticated thing to do something for no purpose other than that it amuses you,” she said.
Orca attacks aren’t about revenge
There was no evidence that the attacks are being led by older female orcas in revenge for a boat harming a young whale, as has been suggested at times, the group said. The notion took the internet by storm in 2023, with “Sink the rich” mugs and T-shirts featuring killer whales on them proliferating.
“That’s probably based on people watching Hollywood movies,” Zerbini said.
Despite the number of news reports that have suggested the matriarch revenge theory, “I tracked it down and it never happened,” said Rose.
In the face of what they felt was incorrect information about the motivations behind the encounters, she and close to 80 other marine biologists published an open letter in September saying they didn’t believe that was what was behind the incidents.
“Science cannot yet explain why the Iberian orcas are doing this, although we repeat that it is more likely related to play/socializing than aggression. However, it is unfounded and potentially harmful to the animals to claim it is for revenge for past wrongs or to promote some other melodramatic storyline,” they wrote.
The new Spanish/Portuguese report underscores this and adds why it might have happened – the recovery of the bluefin tuna orcas prey on.https://e.infogram.com/_/0bmMTc934pmsWOYqaR7d?src=embed#async_embed
Why were the young orcas so bored?
A surprising chain of events is behind the encounters, the scientists believe.
This particular population of Iberian killer whales is critically endangered, in part, because its primary prey were bluefin tuna that had long been overfished and were in decline.
That meant the orcas had to spend lots of time hunting and feeding, leaving little space for the kind of play juveniles are known for.
Better protections have meant the tuna population rebounded in recent years. Climate change may also play a role, leading the tuna to be abundant in the Gulf of Cádiz year-round rather than seasonally. “This year-round abundance means that there appears to no longer be a need for the whales to pursue every fish encountered,” the report said.
That was good for the orcas but may be the cause of the problems for boaters, said Zerbini.
Effectively, the killer whales “have time on their hands,” he said, “so they’ll go start playing with rudders.”
Orcas have a history of weird fads
Killer whale groups, especially younger individuals, are known for their fads and idiosyncrasies.
In the Pacific Northwest, one group of killer whales suddenly got into the habit of carrying dead salmon around on their heads in 1987. The fad arose and spread widely among the group that summer.
The salmon hats craze began with adolescent orcas but then spread, said Rose.
“By the end, everyone was wearing them, including the adults,” she said.
Then the fashion dropped out of style as quickly as it had begun.
Zerbini thinks the craze for ramming rudders among the Iberian killer whales is probably a similar fad. “They are very intelligent and playful animals,” he said.
Only about 15 out of the fewer than 40 or so killer whales in this population are engaging in the behavior.
“We think the orcas are getting something out of it, they are enjoying what’s happening. They’re playing,” he said. “Obviously, they don’t understand that that play can mean harm to the boats.”https://e.infogram.com/_/HwwghwSJgonCtxd0KIHx?src=embed#async_embed
What should boat owners do?
The group discussed methods to deter the orcas from interacting with the rudders. One method that de Stephanis is testing involves altering the surface and appearance of the rudder.
“The orcas are very timid and careful, these plastic protuberances create acoustic sounds when the orcas scan the rudder,” said de Stephanis. In addition, orcas really hate jellyfish, so adding flowing pieces behind the rudder gives it the appearance of a jellyfish and deters the orca, de Stephanis added.https://e.infogram.com/_/v0I9DgjEbouKGupVPmHH?src=embed#async_embed
Another possible deterrent: hanging lines on weights into the water around the boat.https://e.infogram.com/_/l2qdJ9H5puA8L51rIdh9?src=embed#async_embed
For now, workshop participants suggest mariners avoid areas where the Iberian killer whales are likely to be from May to August, stay closer to shore in shallow areas and move at least a mile away from any orcas who begin to interact with their boats, preferably toward shore to make rescue faster, should it be necessary.
The suggestions, which have been communicated to boaters in areas where the killer whales are interacting with vessels, appear to already be having an effect.
Since changing the recommendations to advising vessels to flee the interaction immediately, vessel rescues have declined by 80% from May 2023 through May 2024, said de Stephanis.
During that same period, the number of interactions (when an orca touches a vessel) has declined by 70%, he said.
End Brutal Trophy Hunting — Save Russia’s Majestic Wildlife
One Brazen Hunter Causes Colorado City To Ban Hunting Within City Limits
Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, who skewered fast food industry, dies at 53
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https://apnews.com/article/morgan-spurlock-dies-246036b526cdeaf55f7d1335461775a5
FILE – Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock participate in the BUILD Speaker Series to discuss the film, “Go North”, at AOL Studios on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017, in New York. Spurlock, an Oscar-nominee who made food and American diets his life’s work, famously eating only at McDonald’s for a month to illustrate the dangers of a fast-food diet, has died. He was 53. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)Read More
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FILE – Morgan Spurlock poses at the Los Angeles premiere of his film “Super Size Me,” Thursday night, April 22, 2004, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. Spurlock, an Oscar-nominee who made food and American diets his life’s work, famously eating only at McDonald’s for a month to illustrate the dangers of a fast-food diet, has died. He was 53. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)Read More
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FILE – Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock arrives at the premiere of “Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold” in Los Angeles on Wednesday, April 20, 2011. Spurlock, an Oscar-nominee who made food and American diets his life’s work, famously eating only at McDonald’s for a month to illustrate the dangers of a fast-food diet, has died. He was 53. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)Read More
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FILE – Director Morgan Spurlock from the film “Focus Forward” poses for a portrait during the 2013 Sundance Film Festival at the Fender Music Lodge on Jan. 21, 2013 in Park City, Utah. Spurlock, an Oscar-nominee who made food and American diets his life’s work, famously eating only at McDonald’s for a month to illustrate the dangers of a fast-food diet, has died. He was 53. (Photo by Victoria Will/Invision/AP, File)Read More
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FILE – Morgan Spurlock of the CNN series “Inside Man” poses at the CNN Worldwide All-Star Party, on Friday, Jan. 10, 2014, in Pasadena, Calif. Spurlock, an Oscar-nominee who made food and American diets his life’s work, famously eating only at McDonald’s for a month to illustrate the dangers of a fast-food diet, has died. He was 53. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)Read More
BY MARK KENNEDYUpdated 8:38 AM PDT, May 24, 2024Share
NEW YORK (AP) — Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, an Oscar nominee whose most famous works skewered America’s food industry and who notably ate only at McDonald’s for a month to illustrate the dangers of a fast-food diet, has died. He was 53.
Spurlock died Thursday in New York from complications of cancer, according to a statement issued Friday by his family.
“It was a sad day, as we said goodbye to my brother Morgan,” Craig Spurlock, who worked with him on several projects, said in the statement. “Morgan gave so much through his art, ideas, and generosity. The world has lost a true creative genius and a special man. I am so proud to have worked together with him.”
Spurlock made a splash in 2004 with his groundbreaking film “Super Size Me,” which was nominated for an Academy Award. The film chronicled the detrimental physical and psychological effects of Spurlock eating only McDonald’s food for 30 days. He gained about 25 pounds, saw a spike in his cholesterol and lost his sex drive.
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“Everything’s bigger in America,” he said in the film. “We’ve got the biggest cars, the biggest houses, the biggest companies, the biggest food, and finally: the biggest people.”
In one scene, Spurlock showed kids a photo of George Washington and none recognized the Founding Father. But they all instantly knew the mascots for Wendy’s and McDonald’s.
The film grossed more than $22 million on a $65,000 budget and preceded the release of Eric Schlosser’s influential “Fast Food Nation,” which accused the industry of being bad for the environment and rife with labor issues.
Spurlock returned in 2019 with “Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!” — a sober look at an industry that processes 9 billion animals a year in America. He focused on two issues: chicken farmers stuck in a peculiar financial system and the attempt by fast-food chains to deceive customers into thinking they’re eating healthier.
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“We’re at an amazing moment in history from a consumer standpoint where consumers are starting to have more and more power,” he told The Associated Press in 2019. “It’s not about return for the shareholders. It’s about return for the consumers.”
Spurlock was a gonzo-like filmmaker who leaned into the bizarre and ridiculous. His stylistic touches included zippy graphics and amusing music, blending a Michael Moore-ish camera-in-your-face style with his own sense of humor and pathos.
“I wanted to be able to lean into the serious moments. I wanted to be able to breathe in the moments of levity. We want to give you permission to laugh in the places where it’s really hard to laugh,” he told the AP.
After he exposed the fast-food and chicken industries, there was an explosion in restaurants stressing freshness, artisanal methods, farm-to-table goodness and ethically sourced ingredients. But nutritionally not much had changed.
“There has been this massive shift and people say to me, ‘So has the food gotten healthier?’ And I say, ‘Well, the marketing sure has,’” he said.
Not all his work dealt with food. Spurlock made documentaries about the boy band One Direction and the geeks and fanboys at Comic-Con. One of his films looked at life behind bars at the Henrico County Jail in Virginia.
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With 2008’s “Where in the World is Osama bin Laden?” Spurlock went on a global search to find the al-Qaida leader, who was killed in 2011. In “POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold,” Spurlock tackled questions of product placement, marketing and advertising.
“Being aware is half the battle, I think. Literally knowing all the time when you’re being marketed to is a great thing,” Spurlock told AP at the time. “A lot of people don’t realize it. They can’t see the forest for the trees.”
“Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!” was to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017 but it was shelved at the height of the #MeToo movement when Spurlock came forward to detail his own history of sexual misconduct.
He confessed that he had been accused of rape while in college and had settled a sexual harassment case with a female assistant. He also admitted to cheating on numerous partners. “I am part of the problem,” he wrote.
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“For me, there was a moment of kind of realization — as somebody who is a truth-teller and somebody who has made it a point of trying to do what’s right — of recognizing that I could do better in my own life. We should be able to admit we were wrong,” he told the AP.
Spurlock grew up in Beckley, West Virginia. His mother was an English teacher who he remembered would correct his work with a red pen. He graduated with a BFA in film from New York University in 1993.
He is survived by two sons — Laken and Kallen; his mother Phyllis Spurlock; father Ben; brothers Craig and Barry; and former spouses Alexandra Jamieson and Sara Bernstein, the mothers of his children.
Exposing the Big Game 