Bird flu latest updates: 69 human cases reported in 12 states, but officials say public health risk is still low – Yahoo
Source: Yahoo Entertainment
Bird flu is spreading across the United States, causing egg shortages and soaring prices at supermarkets and restaurants. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the current public health risk is low. There have been at least 69 confirmed human cases of bird flu in 12 states, with one death associated with the H5N1 infection.
In recent months, cases of avian influenza have increased in animals, including poultry, wild birds, dairy cows and even pet cats. Nearly 23 million birds were affected by the virus in January, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Since February 2022, over 138 million birds have been infected by H5N1.
Ohio health officials reported on Wednesday that a farm worker had been infected with bird flu after coming into contact with poultry that had the virus — the first detected human case of bird flu in the state. Most human cases are mild, and there is currently no evidence of human-to-human transmission.
As of Feb. 13, 69 cases of bird flu detected in humans have been reported across 12 U.S. states due to exposure from infected commercial poultry, dairy cattle herds or other animals. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the current public health risk of bird flu is low.
The states where human cases of bird flu have thus far been identified are Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Colorado, Texas, Louisiana, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio.
The demand for vegan egg substitutes is on the rise, as chicken egg prices spike amid a nationwide bird flu outbreak.
Vegan egg companies like Eat Just saw January sales increase five times compared with last year. The company, which makes Just Egg branded products, uses mung beans and canola oil in its liquid-form egg substitute. The sales of those products have expanded at retailers.
“Just Egg sales have accelerated, with one major chain, which the company declined to name, posting weekly gains on a year-over-year basis as high as 70%,” Bloomberg reported.
Egg prices have risen 53% over the last year, including a 15% increase in January alone. But the cost of chicken meat has barely risen 1% since this time last year, according to recent Consumer Price Index data.
The chickens specifically used for laying eggs are separate from other chickens raised for meat, also known as “broilers.”
Broiler chickens can also get sick with the bird flu but have been less susceptible to the current outbreak because they have a shorter life span and are usually slaughtered within two months. Less time on a farm means there’s less opportunity for broilers to get infected.
Meanwhile, egg-laying hens take longer to mature and start producing eggs after four or five months. They have been hit much harder than broilers by the bird flu, making up 75% of the birds affected from the start of the outbreak in 2022.
Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo signed a bill Friday that seeks to help with the rising cost of eggs in the state due to the increase in bird flu.
“This bipartisan legislation represents how effective the legislature can be when they work together,” Lombardo said in a statement.
The legislation, known as Assembly Bill 171, was just introduced in the state legislature two weeks ago. It bypasses a 2021 state law that says only cage-free eggs must be sold in Nevada. The law will allow the state’s quarantine officer to temporarily allow the sale of non-cage-free eggs, or Grade B eggs, for up to 120 days to help increase the supply of eggs to stores. Under the new law, small farmers will also be able to sell their eggs to retailers.
Grade B eggs are safe to eat but usually aren’t found in retail stores because “they are used to make liquid, frozen and dried egg products,” according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the first study under the Trump administration on the bird flu outbreak.
The delayed release of the report comes after a January order from the administration that temporarily halted the release of public communications from federal health agencies until approved by a Trump appointee.
The CDC study found bird flu antibodies in three cattle veterinarians who were tested last fall (out of 150 who were tested in total). The presence of antibodies indicates that those three veterinarians had the virus at some point, even though they didn’t experience symptoms.
The authors said this finding means there could be people and animals infected with bird flu in states where infection in dairy cattle hasn’t been identified yet.
Egg prices rose more than 15% from December to January. A dozen eggs cost about $4.95, which is “five times the overall U.S. inflation rate of 3%,” CBS News reported using Consumer Price Index data.
Soaring egg prices have brought nationwide attention to the widespread impact of the bird flu outbreak. Millions of birds, including chickens and ducks, have had to be euthanized since the start of the H5N1 outbreak, in 2022.
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