Still not human to human transmissible. But that may not be the case forever.
Texas health and wildlife officials have detected avian flu in mammals including skunks, raccoons, foxes and domestic cats across six counties in the state’s Panhandle region.
The discovery, which follows the revelation that dairy cows and humans have both tested positive for the virus, suggests it’s moving to a new stage of contagion. The development also comes as the Trump White House moves ahead on drastic cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which oversees efforts to contain disease outbreaks.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), the Department of State Health Services and the Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Lab found the new infections among mammals in Deaf Smith, Hansford, Lubbock, Ochiltree, Parmer and Randall counties. Data shows that transmission among mammals primarily happens when they eat infected animal carcasses, state officials said, although “mammal-to-mammal transmission is possible.”
Avian flu has already decimated U.S. poultry flocks, sending egg prices through the roof. To date, more than 168 million chickens have died or been killed due to the outbreak.
Angela Rasmussen, a U.S. virologist working in Canada, told CBS News program 60 Minutes on Sunday that the virus’ jump from chickens to other mammals suggests there’s reason for concern that continuing evolution could enable it to jump between humans.
“The fact that this virus can infect so many different types of mammals is a huge concern in terms of its ability to infect people,” Rasmussen said.
While the Biden administration was slow to take action to contain the spread of avian flu, Rasmussen told 60 Minutes that the Trump White House appears to be on an even worse trajectory due to its ongoing cuts at the CDC.
“Many of the people who were working on this, at least at CDC, have — have been fired from the federal government,” Rasmussen said. “So the influenza division at CDC has been decimated, and in fact, there is a communications ban that has been put on these federal workers.”
TPWD officials urged Texans working in wildlife rehabilitation to be cautious when intaking wild animals and for people to take protective measures such as donning gloves and face masks if they handle wild animals. Those who think they have encountered wild animals with avian flu should contact a TPWD wildlife biologist, they added.
See here, here, and here for some background. The risk right now for most of us is pretty miniscule – basically, stay away from animals that aren’t pets, with some allowance for livestock and zoo animals, and you’re fine. But the flu evolves and so that could change, and right now the people that are best suited to track this are not able to do their jobs to the fullest extent. That’s a big risk, and it’s a risk that the federal government doesn’t even recognize. Hope for the best, there’s not a whole lot else we can do at this time.