Health
Positive cases in poultry, cattle slow down
Michigan’s top agricultural leader says he is cautiously optimistic about the status of the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza outbreak in the state because no new cattle herds have been identified with the virus for two weeks and it’s been more than six weeks since the last poultry farm or backyard flock reported sick birds.
“We certainly take it as good news that we haven’t had any recent detections here in a couple of weeks,” Tim Boring, director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, told the Free Press Thursday. “But at the same time, we’re going to make sure that we’re continuing to really work hard at mitigating the extent of the virus and any threats here to animal and human health. The slowing down of the positive cases here over the last few weeks, I would say, is a result of a lot of heightened awareness and employment of biosecurity practices.”
The H5N1 bird flu virus has been spreading for two years among wild birds and domestic poultry — forcing Michigan poultry farmers and egg producers to cull about 6.8 million birds. The virus adapted to infect mammals not just in the U.S., but around the world, killing seals and foxes, raccoons and skunks. It leapt to cows in late 2023, with high levels of viral particles identified in the milk and udders of sick livestock.
Three U.S. farmworkers were infected with bird flu this spring after working closely with infected cows. Two of them were in Michigan, where 25 dairy farms in 10 counties have had known H5N1 infections among their herds. As of June 27, dairy farms in 12 states have reported sick cattle.
“We’ve had two individuals who have been impacted by this disease here in Michigan and they are people that work with cattle every day,” Boring said.
Both Michigan farmworkers and one from Texas had mild illnesses and fully recovered. Though the strain of H5N1 circulating in the U.S. right now has not caused severe disease or death, there is a worry among public health leaders that the more the virus spreads, the more chances it has to mutate into a form that could cause higher rates of severe disease and deaths. The World Health Organization reported that the mortality rate from H5N1 influenza A viruses was about 50% among 889 people in 23 countries who were infected with other subtypes of the virus from 2003 to April 2024.
“The concern, though, is the fact that this is a mutated virus that’s moved into mammalian species in different ways,” Boring said. “I don’t think it’s fair to say that there’s a huge risk to this becoming a greater human health threat, but it’s not an insignificant threat, either.”
To address that concern, Boring announced tighter regulations this week around cattle in Michigan, requiring bird flu testing for animals from dairy farms that are exhibited at fairs and expos with an aim of controlling the spread of the virus.
Cows infected with bird flu can be asymptomatic
Bird flu testing of cows, poultry and people remains mostly voluntary in the U.S. and many farmers and farmworkers may be unwilling to test or allow government employees onto their farms.
“If you spend time with farmers, you know that some of them are very happy to have folks come to their farm and help them learn about biosecurity and some are not,” said U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, who serves on the House Agriculture Committee and whose family owned a beef farm when she was a child. “I think Michigan has been doing better than the average state on this, but that doesn’t mean every farmer is interested in having the U.S. government or the Michigan government stop by the farm. So it’s a negotiation. It’s a conversation.”
Boring did not answer questions from the Free Press about how many of Michigan’s 800-900 licensed dairy cattle farms have tested their animals for H5N1 infections.
Rather, he said, Michigan farmers have been very cooperative, and have consented to more testing than most other states in the U.S.
“We have more dairy herds known (to have H5N1) here in Michigan than in nearly any other state; Idaho has recently surpassed us,” Boring said. “But we have a high number of known dairy operations (with infected cattle) because we’re testing for it here. We have two positive farmworkers here in Michigan because we’ve been testing for it. So it really speaks to the strong coordinated efforts between animal and human health officials.
“USDA’s body of research (and) understanding of what this virus looks like is almost exclusively from Michigan.”
The H5N1 virus is what’s known as a reportable disease in Michigan, he said, which means that on any farm where a veterinarian identifies bird flu symptoms, lab tests are ordered to check for highly pathogenic avian influenza infections.
The catch is that asymptomatic cows also can be infected with the virus. And without symptoms, a veterinarian wouldn’t be likely to order an H5N1 test.
That’s problematic, said Dr. Arnold Monto, emeritus professor of epidemiology and global public health at the University of Michigan and co-director of the Michigan Center for Respiratory Virus Research and Response. Without data on how many farms have tested and how many haven’t and without testing of both symptomatic and asymptomatic animals, it’s impossible to know just how widespread the disease truly is.
“We need a whole lot of increased testing,” he said, not just in Michigan, but nationally. Those tests should include both asymptomatic and sick animals as well as people who work with poultry and livestock, he said.
Monto noted that wastewater testing from six Michigan sampling sites detected H5 influenza virus in recent weeks, according to WastewaterSCAN, even in places where there are no known infections among dairy herds.
“It has to be coming from somewhere,” Monto said. “You can hypothesize any number of places it’s coming from. … And if they’re only testing symptomatic cows and people, then we don’t know.
“What is going on in other states is probably even worse because they haven’t identified it in dairy cattle and they’re seeing positives in the wastewater. … What we have to do is to figure out how to control spread and how to decide when a farm is clear of infection so that we are able to eliminate the virus from dairy cattle.”
Though there have been instances where dairy cattle have tested positive for the H5N1 virus but haven’t appeared to be sick, Boring said it isn’t a consistent finding.
“We know that a few farms around the country have had situations like that,” Boring said. “This continues to be a virus that the main transmission pathway (in cows) appears to be milk. And we know that in sick animals, that virus is really concentrating in the milk. And we understand that non-lactating cows likely aren’t going to be carriers for the disease in a really significant way. But there’s still a tremendous amount here we don’t know.
“The virus is behaving slightly differently in different herds. Some herds have noted the virus has swept through and left in a matter of days while some herds have experienced longer infections, including timeframes that include approximately a month. The understanding of the virus is evolving and while there aren’t rigid answers to each of the questions, as more farms participate in research, the more data points are identified and collected.”
Financial support for farms tied to testing
Federal and state agriculture departments are taking a carrot-stick approach to incentivize bird flu testing among dairy farms.
For dairy operations that have suffered financial losses because H5N1 infections reduced milk production in their herds, MDARD and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are offering grants and other monetary support — but only if the farms agree to allow testing and research.
Farmers, Slotkin said, are “going to be interested in compensation and help and assistance,” and that might sway them to consent to testing on their farms.
“It’s a trade because the government wants to stop the spread,” she said. “That’s the government’s interest. And the farmer wants to be compensated … for those good practices. That’s new to the dairy farmers. They’ve been doing that on the poultry side for a while. So that trade, that quid pro quo, is understood.”
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There is no similar carrot-stick approach to encourage people who have been exposed to infected cattle and poultry to be tested. Monto noted that many farmworkers are migrant or undocumented workers who may not be willing to be tested or report symptoms out of fear of being deported or facing financial repercussions.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told the Free Press Thursday it has tested 51 people nationally for H5N1 infections who have had contact with infected cattle.
Additionally, “nearly 700 people are being or have been monitored because of their exposure to infected cows,” a CDC spokesperson said. “The global standard for testing is to test people with relevant exposures who are symptomatic or acutely ill. CDC believes that this testing guidance is appropriate for the current situation based on existing information.”
The bulk of those people, said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, Michigan’s chief medical officer, are from Michigan.
She told the Free Press Wednesday the state health department has tested 56 people with exposure to both sick cows and poultry for H5N1 infections. The 51 people the CDC tested nationally includes only those with exposure to infected cattle, the agency said.
The CDC would not break down the 51 tests by state, but Bagdasarian said: “Michigan has been doing the most testing nationally; we are way ahead of everyone else.”
Health leader visits Michigan farms
Bagdasarian said she has been traveling around Michigan, spending time on farms to get a better understanding of the conditions for workers and to pinpoint infection risks.
“I’ve been going to dairy farms and looking at: What are the processes? How does milking work? What are the high-risk activities?” she said. “Where are people inclined to come into contact with milk? What types of PPE are people wearing now? And if we put out some really simple messaging, what types of PPE (personal protective equipment) would they be interested in wearing in the future? What is safest for them — not only for heat, because people naturally have been talking a lot about heat — but we’ve also got to think about peripheral vision. Now that I have gone and milked a cow in one of these dairy facilities, if (the cow’s leg) is right there, you don’t want to miss any movement in your peripheral vision where you could get a kick to the face.
“We’re spending time on farms. We’re talking to farm owners. We’re asking them what kind of PPE is most feasible. We’re having these conversations so that they feel comfortable reporting, symptomatic individuals to us.”
Thousands of Michiganders, she said, with exposure to infected animals have been monitored by the state health department for symptoms.
Wastewater testing, she said, has been “an incredible tool” during the coronavirus pandemic to help public health leaders understand virus surges. But it’s more complex with H5N1 for a few reasons.
“It was not designed for the particular situation that we’re in right now,” Bagdasarian said, “where we have multiple streams of information, multiple streams of this genetic material, and no idea how to differentiate between those sources. … We have big poultry farms that are impacted and dairy farms that are impacted, but we’ve got a variety of wild animals that are impacted and we’re just seeing the tip of the iceberg. So not only do we have wild birds which are flying overhead and can land anywhere and get into any sort of water system, but we’ve got small animals like mice that now have shown signs of H5N1 and … we’ve also got milk processors that are completely separate from the farms and that are sometimes taking the milk long distances for pasteurization.
“We just don’t know where that genetic material is coming from.”
To get a better idea of H5N1 spread in people who have been exposed to sick cows, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has asked licensed health care professionals in the state to watch for people with exposure to dairy cattle and poultry who have symptoms that could be related to H5N1 infection. They also “have clear instructions on how to submit samples to our Bureau of Laboratories,” Bagdasarian said.
More:How Michigan became ground zero for H5 avian influenza in the US
More:2nd Michigan farmworker has contracted avian influenza from cow, health officials say
“The other part of this is there is ongoing influenza research and surveillance that’s happening on an ongoing basis,” Bagdasarian said, noting that the state health department and CDC are constantly monitoring flu activity. Because the H5N1 virus is a form of influenza A, if there were widespread disease among people, she said we would likely see higher levels of influenza A illness in the community.
“We’re trying to do this in a way that is as supportive as it can possibly be,” she said, “and that means supporting privacy (of farmers and farmworkers), trying to make sure that they are not losing their livelihood, supporting them with PPE, supporting them with information.”
MDHHS also is working the CDC to conduct an H5N1 seroprevalence study. That involves blood tests for farmworkers and others with contact with animals to assess how many have antibodies in their blood that show past infection.
“The study is completely voluntary for any participants and anonymous,” said Chelsea Wuth, a spokesperson for the state health department. “Data collection has been completed for the first phase and we are in laboratory and epidemiology analysis phases. MDHHS looks forward to sharing its findings when those phases are complete. I don’t have a timeline of when we will have results.”
New restrictions on cattle at fairs, expositions
To further reduce the risk of spreading the bird flu virus among cattle and people in Michigan, Boring issued an emergency order in May and amended it this month to further tighten the restrictions on the dairy cows and other cattle that can be exhibited at fairs and expositions this summer.
Boring initially signed a declaration of “an extraordinary emergency” in May, requiring all dairy farms and commercial poultry operations to implement new biosecurity measures to stop the spread of the virus. Farms are required to create a secure area with limited access points around animals, establishing cleaning and disinfection protocols for vehicles and people, and keeping a record of all the people and vehicles that enter the animal zone.
The dairy cattle from farms where H5N1 infections were detected are prohibited from exhibitions, and all lactating cows along with those in the last two months of pregnancy also are banned from exhibitions until 60 days have passed with no new H5N1 infections in the state’s cattle herds. The emergency order also prohibits poultry exhibitions at fairs and expositions until there were no new infections among flocks in Michigan for 30 days.
Boring announced Wednesday an updated order effective July 1 that lifts the restriction on poultry exhibitions at fairs and expositions because there haven’t been any newly infected commercial flocks in Michigan since May 2 and no new backyard flocks with bird flu have been detected since May 9.
For any cattle coming from any dairy farm in Michigan, even cows that are not lactating from farms without a known bird flu outbreak, Boring said MDARD will require an H5N1 test conducted within the last seven days to be exhibited at fairs, expos or exhibitions. That new rule, he said, is aimed at reducing the risk of asymptomatic animals spreading disease.
Organizers of fairs, exhibitions and expositions also must keep a list of the names and contact information for all exhibitors of livestock, including poultry, and post signs alerting the public about biosecurity measures, and encouraging them to wash their hands and stay a safe distance from animals.
He said MDARD is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on a pilot program to conduct bird flu testing of bulk milk tanks on dairy farms, “which is going to give us an additional window into testing and our understanding of how the virus might be moving around farms of different types and sizes across the state.
“We’re in the early discussions or the early processes of getting farms enrolled in that USDA testing program, and I know a few other states are in these early steps as well. We’ve got a number of farms that have expressed interest in this.”
Bagdasarian said the risk to the general public remains low “because we are not seeing genetic changes that would indicate a public health concern with human-to-human transmission with antiviral resistance.”
But in public health, she said, it’s important not only to consider the current situation, but what the future might bring.
“I’m trying to plan and think about what is possible a year from now, five years from now and 10 years from now,” she said. “That means I am worried about cross-species transmission because the more cross-species transmission occurs, the greater the chance of mutations and reassortment and then we end up with a problem virus for humans.
“So if you are part of the general public, this is not an issue that you have to worry about right now. If you’re someone who works on a dairy farm, please take all the precautions. … If you work in public health, we are the ones who need to think about the longer-term consequences of this. We can avoid some of those really concerning outcomes if we can mitigate cross-species transmission as much as possible.”
Contact Kristen Shamus: [email protected]. Subscribe to the Free Press.
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