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U.S. Prepares for Bird Flu Amid Low Public Risk

Federal health officials are developing vaccines and monitoring cases after a Texas dairy worker contracts H5N1, but assure the risk to the public remains low.

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Cases of eggs from Cal-Maine Foods Inc. being handed out by the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce employees at the Mississippi State Fairgrounds in Jackson, Miss., in 2020. The largest producer of fresh eggs in the United States said Tuesday that it has stopped production at a Texas plant after bird flu was found in chickens there. Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. said in a statement that about 1.6 million laying hens and 337,000 pullets, about 3.6% of its total flock, were destroyed after the infection, avian influenza, was found at the facility in Parmer County, Texas. 
Digitally-colorized transmission electron microscopic image of Avian Influenza A H5N1 virus particles (seen in gold), grown in Madin-Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) epithelial cells (seen in green).

Overview

  • Federal officials are preparing vaccine candidates against the H5N1 bird flu strain following a human case in Texas, emphasizing the current low risk to the general public.
  • The infected individual, a dairy worker, contracted the virus from cattle, marking a rare instance of animal-to-human transmission of H5N1 in the U.S.
  • Surveillance and monitoring efforts are enhanced, with over 8,000 people screened for exposure to H5N1 across the U.S., aiming to detect any potential human-to-human transmission.
  • Funding cuts for pandemic preparedness have raised concerns among experts, despite the strategic national stockpile containing vaccines and antivirals ready for use.
  • The CDC and health experts maintain that, while the situation is taken seriously, the genetic makeup of the virus does not currently suggest an increased likelihood of widespread human transmission.