Re: Two more California dairy workers confirmed to be infected by dairy influenza

On 10/23/2024 4:17 PM, RonO wrote:

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/avian-influenza-bird-flu/avian-flu-infects-2- more-dairy-workers-californias-central-valley
 California is reporting that the CDC has confirmed 2 more dairy worker infections, so they aren't releasing information on new cases until confirmed by the CDC.  More cases have been reported in the news, but they may not have been confirmed by the CDC at this time.
 California must have a very high rate of confirming suspected dairy worker infections in testing symptomatic dairy workers.  The CDC never started such testing, so it is no surprise that they never knew what the actual rate of infection has likely been for a very long time.  The positives are only from symptomatic workers.  We still do not know the actual infection rate.
 This article also states that the CDC has contracted Quest Diagnostics to test samples coming from human subjects for the dairy influenza.  The test is specific for the H5N1 virus.  In light of the mutations being identified in California and Missouri among human patients, the CDC should start evaluating the current test to make sure that the mutations are not compromising detection.  The test works, but that doesn't mean that it works as well as it was first designed to work back in March.
 In all other states they should be running antibody screening for workers that had worked with known infected cattle, so that we can get an idea of how bad things have always been.  The previous antibody testing of dairy workers in Michigan tested 39 individuals, but they were selected because they had not shown symptoms after being exposed to the infected cattle, and they did they test the known positive control of the individual that had tested positive (was shedding virus).  As sad as it may seem that study was designed to not identify past infected workers.  A smaller Texas study that tested 14 individuals that had shown some influenza like symptoms found 2 antibody positive dairy workers.  One of the positive individuals had not worked with cattle (they worked in the farm cafeteria) and was a possible human to human infection because the other positive worker worked on the same farm, but the CDC never considers that study, nor do they have designated them possible infected humans.
 Ron Okimoto

https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/situation-summary/index.html
The CDC added one additional confirmed case among farm workers in California (total 16) and Washington (total 6).  They still have not updated the Missouri situation about the second human infection with no known contact with infected animals (should be 2 total).  They claim that both Missouri cases were likely infected by the same source at the same time since they lived together.  They do not believe that one infected the other.
Ron Okimoto