Avian influenza found in South Carolina

[Molpet]

From MSU.

"What happens in a dairy herd with HPAI? What should I expect if my herd became infected? This case report describes what one farmer has faced since herd infection began."

https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/hpai-dairy-herd-infection-case-report

I'm surprised they didn't mandate culling the whole farm like they do poultry.
Not that I'm advocating Mass culling. Never will develop resistance if the strong are culled.

 

[Folly's place]

The cattle aren't dying, as chickens and turkeys do, when infected. And we've had mass killing of dairy cattle, in the late 70's or early 80', look up the film 'Bitter harvest'. Here in Michigan!
Mary

 

[RoyalChick]

I'm surprised they didn't mandate culling the whole farm like they do poultry.
Not that I'm advocating Mass culling. Never will develop resistance if the strong are culled.

I was surprised about that too. I was also hoping they would stop the mandatory culling of whole flocks and any flocks within a mile or so radius.
That never made sense to me given it is spread by wild water foul, but it makes even less sense if the disease is out there in a variety of mammals.

 

[NatJ]

I'm surprised they didn't mandate culling the whole farm like they do poultry.
Not that I'm advocating Mass culling. Never will develop resistance if the strong are culled.

For a commercial flock that will never be used for breeding anyway, if almost all of the birds would die from the disease, I think it can make sense to cull the whole flock. It saves human time & effort (do it all at once and get it over with), and depending on what method of culling is used, it may also reduce suffering among the chickens, and it does prevent disease being spread from those particular chickens to wild birds or other flocks.

But for breeding flocks, I think it would make more sense to allow the disease to run its course, and breed from any survivors. For breeding flocks that belong to hatcheries, where the chicks will be distributed to people all over the country, I think it makes even more sense to allow any surviving chickens to breed: talk about a good way to spread genes for resistance! I think some sort of quarantine would make more sense for such flocks, to prevent any extra spread of the disease while it runs its course.

Which is to say, I don't think any "one size fits all" approach is correct, but of course the people writing government policies didn't ask my opinion (or apparently the opinion of anyone else here!)

 

[RoyalChick]

For a commercial flock that will never be used for breeding anyway, if almost all of the birds would die from the disease, I think it can make sense to cull the whole flock. It saves human time & effort (do it all at once and get it over with), and depending on what method of culling is used, it may also reduce suffering among the chickens, and it does prevent disease being spread from those particular chickens to wild birds or other flocks.

But for breeding flocks, I think it would make more sense to allow the disease to run its course, and breed from any survivors. For breeding flocks that belong to hatcheries, where the chicks will be distributed to people all over the country, I think it makes even more sense to allow any surviving chickens to breed: talk about a good way to spread genes for resistance! I think some sort of quarantine would make more sense for such flocks, to prevent any extra spread of the disease while it runs its course.

Which is to say, I don't think any "one size fits all" approach is correct, but of course the people writing government policies didn't ask my opinion (or apparently the opinion of anyone else here!)

Yes. I was thinking that the farmer would likely decide to cull the flock rather than waiting for them to die one by one.
But breeding flock and backyard flock shouldn’t be forcibly culled.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I can argue both sides here - I understand the policy considerations being weighed. Ultimately, the state has made a decision that removes the policy decision from those on the ground, and entrusts it to someone whose job performance is measured by the success of their disease control/eradication, which puts the precautionary principal at the top of their considerations.

Everything else is either secondary or irrelevant to their role in Gov't.
Changing that will require changing the law.

 

[NanaK]

All cows are not fully recovering. Some of the cows after recovering from the virus are not producing milk and do not put weight back on. Some of these are being cullled by farmers.

What I do not understand is there is no mandatory reporting as well as only limited testing for cows and workers.
"Don't ask, don't tell."

Some farm workers that work with these sick animals have refused to be tested. It is said some of these could be asymtomatic. I also read reports that some had signs of respiratory infections.

It seems the authorities have to be "invited" to the farms to test the cows and people. Some have refused???

Without more testing, how do they know how many cows or people are affected?

I read a local article last night that viral fragments where found in municipal wastewater discharge were found in Forsyth Co, NC and a couple other states with positive cows. They could not identify if it came from animals or humans. They need to find out!

 

[Molpet]

Looks like the Dutch are testing AI vaccines with success.
https://www.poultryworld.net/health...BgxHBLwNllJe2sQ&mlnmsg=DiTth-YdQ7kjEQPHViuylQ

 

[TooCheep]

Looks like the Dutch are testing AI vaccines with success.
https://www.poultryworld.net/health...effective-pilot-continues-with-third-vaccine/

Mrna vaccines (aka vector vaccines) in day old chicks. This is the future of hatchery chicks and our food supply.

 

[TooCheep]

WHO announces Mexican dies with bird flu.

https://www.reuters.com/world/ameri...case-avian-influenza-ah5n2-mexico-2024-06-05/

The last human bird flu case a month or so ago had the following symptoms: pink eye.

Mexico's Health Ministry also said in a statement the source of infection had not been identified.
The victim had no history of exposure to poultry or other animals but had multiple underlying medical conditions and had been bedridden for three weeks, for other reasons, prior to the onset of acute symptoms, the WHO said.
Mexico's health ministry said the person had chronic kidney disease and type 2 diabetes.
"That immediately puts a person at risk of more severe influenza, even with seasonal flu," said Andrew Pekosz, an influenza expert at Johns Hopkins University.
But how this individual got infected "is a big question mark that at least this initial report doesn't really address thoroughly."

I'm wondering why so much of this is following the same playbook as Covid...

• Locate bird flu using the same badly-flawed PCR tests as Covid.
• Test people and animals with no obvious links to poultry and "discover" bird flu.
• If a person dies "with" bird flu, but has other severe contributors to death, be sure to publish that info late in the article where few people will read it.
• Use the same mRNA technology and the same emergency approval procedures that shortcut effectiveness and safety testing.
• Propose and push a only one solution: mRNA injections. Ignore other potential solutions entirely.

Bonus:

• Now people are proposing using the same "solution" as chickens. Cull the entire herd if a single cow is discovered "with" bird flu. At least one can make the argument that birds showed high rates of death from the disease. That isn't true of cattle and they don't seem to want to consider alternate solutions like isolation, testing if the meat and milk can pass along the disease, especially after recovery, alternate drugs, etc.

I'm seeing too many similarities, with too many questionable practices as Covid. Be ready for history to repeat from four years ago.