No need to panic, but good to know.
Bird flu has been detected in wastewater around the Houston area, Harris County Public Health officials said Tuesday.
The source of the Bird flu, or H5N1, found in Houston water between March 1 and May 13 is unknown, media partner ABC 13 reported. Officials confirmed there have been no human cases of the virus in Harris County.
“The most likely source is related to agriculture, and the public risk remains low,” county health officials said in a statement, according to ABC 13.
The disease was detected in nine Texas cities, including Austin, where city officials also confirmed there have been no human cases.
The Texas Department of State Health Services reported the first human case in April, only the second case reported in the U.S.
Here’s that ABC13 story, which adds some more detail.
Even though bird flu has been detected in wastewater samples in the Houston area, it doesn’t necessarily mean that there are people in our communities who are infected.
Chris Van Deusen with the Texas Department of State Health Services told ABC13’s Rosie Nguyen on Monday that traces of the dead virus could still be detected in milk that has been pasteurized if it came from a cow with the bird flu. If someone pours that milk down the drain, that’s one way it could end up in wastewater systems.
“The way most wastewater testing is done, it’s through a test called PCR. What that sort of looks for is fragments of the genetic materials in a virus. So it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a live virus,” Van Deusen said. “One thing that could be going on here is the milk coming from cows in another part of the state and going down the drain in our sewer systems.”
He emphasized that pasteurized milk from an infected cow does not pose a risk to humans because pasteurization kills viruses and other bacteria.
So until and unless there are cases of the flu in humans reported, it’s likely that what we’re detecting is not a threat. The story contains some guidance from the CDC for minimizing your own risk. For those of us who are not on a dairy farm or surrounded by birds, the most relevant and actionable item is “don’t drink raw milk”. I kind of doubt that the people who do drink raw milk will pay attention to that, but there you go. And also, our wastewater detection systems, which we built up during the COVID pandemic, are awesome. Hopefully there won’t be any need for further updates on this one.
is it true the CDC have only tested 44people in the contiguous united states , since xmas ? ostrich strategy ?