Following an outbreak of avian influenza in dairy cows, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday that there is no solid evidence that the virus is spreading among humans.
new data As of May 4, a small number of sites across the country, including Alaska, California, Florida, Illinois and Kansas, had higher than average levels of influenza A viruses, according to a study from the agency’s 189 wastewater sampling sites. It turned out that it was detected.
The avian influenza currently circulating among cattle is called H5N1, which is a type of influenza A.
Only one site in Saline County, Kansas, detected significantly high levels of influenza virus for this time of year. Four herds in Kansas tested positive in April, according to the CDC.
It is unclear whether the Kansas wastewater samples were limited to human waste or included farm runoff. It is also unclear whether high levels of the virus in wastewater indicate infection in humans, cattle, birds, or other animals. The CDC says it hasn’t seen an unusual increase in flu-like illnesses in recent weeks.
“We want to really understand what causes influenza A to increase during times when influenza A transmission is thought to be low,” said Jonathan Yoder, deputy director of the CDC’s Division of Infectious Disease Control and Innovation.
Representatives for Saline County’s main hospital did not respond to requests for comment.
Dr. Cameron Wolfe, an infectious disease expert and associate professor at Duke University School of Medicine in North Carolina, said the new data from the CDC is “actually pretty encouraging.”
“It’s mid-May now, and we don’t have a lot of influenza to begin with,” he said. Wolf said his own medical practice has not seen an increase in flu-like illnesses.
As of Tuesday, 42 herds in 9 states Kansas, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota and Texas were affected.
The agency is Monitored 260 people People who have been exposed to infected dairy cows due to flu-like symptoms. 33 people were tested for the virus. So far, only a dairy farm worker in Texas has been diagnosed with avian influenza linked to the dairy cow outbreak. He developed severe conjunctivitis, or pink eye, but he recovered.
