By Mackenzie Lofgren | WCCO
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesotta — Flu skilled says chicken flu virus could also be unfold by contaminated feces blowing within the wind.
Dr. Michael Osterholm is a medical detective and Director of the Heart for Infectious Illness Analysis and Coverage, or CIDRAP, on the College of Minnesota. Osterholm has almost 50 years of investigating infectious illness outbreaks and public well being threats.
Osterholm hosts a podcast on the College of Minnesota referred to as “Osterholm Update,” the place he discusses newest illness and outbreak information headlines.
On episode 175 titled, “Drinking From a Fire Hose: Are We Drowning?,” Osterholm and his co-host, Chris Dall, talk about rising issues relating to chicken flu — or H1N1 — making the leap from animals to people.
In keeping with Osterholm, there was a further 89 confirmed flocks with excessive path avian influenza throughout the final 30 days alone. Areas affected embrace Georgia, Indiana, Ohio, California, New York, Minnesota and Maryland.
Osterholm says that the first form of birds impacted by the flu is migratory waterfowl, like geese and geese, and these birds typically hand around in farm fields the place they defecate. Then, the wind picks up particles of the contaminated feces, spreading the virus far and vast.
The issue is then exacerbated as many poultry manufacturing amenities home their poultry in barns which have little safety from the weather and usually are not hermetic. Which means, its straightforward for contaminated winds to achieve business animals.
Moreover, Osterholm factors out, slats on these enclosures are sometimes opened throughout heat climate.
“Today, I am certain that we are seeing clouds of dust with bird feces in that, and we are beginning to see what I would consider to be almost an environmental type disease, similar to the transmission that we see with Coccidioidomycosis, what we call Valley fever, where in fact that’s a fungus that grows in the environment. And then on windy days it blows with the dust and you inhale it. I think we’re going to see the same thing with H5N1. That’s why so many of these barns are now positive,” mentioned Osterholm on his podcast.
Now that the virus has gone airborne, Osterholm believes we’re going to start out seeing an increasing number of circumstances in people with no clarification for why they occurred. Which means, individuals are going to get sick with out even coming involved with the contaminated animal.
“I think we’re going to see more and more situations with wind driven activity where you’re going to see virus show up. What does that mean?
I do not believe that the price of eggs is going to come down anytime soon, because until the poultry industry realizes they have to have airtight barns with HEPA filter intake, they’re going to continue to see this virus show up and show up and show up and show up.
Unless it changes in the wildlife. It’s unless it changes in the migratory waterfowl. It’s going to continue to be a problem for them,” mentioned Osterholm.
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