Second American diagnosed with chook flu tied to dairy cows | LiveNOW from FOX

Welcome in live now I'm Austin Westfall let's get to some domestic news here take a look at your screen so a second case of bird flu and a human was detected in a worker at a Michigan dairy farm where the virus had been identified in cows Federal officials said on Wednesday officials say that the risk to the public remains low but the new case.

Underscores the importance of precautions being taken among those who work closely with potentially infected animals amid a multi-state out break in dairy cows to discuss this we bring in friend of the show infectious disease expert Dr Peter chenhong as always Peter it's good to see you so we have this uh tweet here to pull up we see the AP has.

Been covering this we've been covering this with you for the past month or two here I got to ask as I said at the top risk remains low so why exactly is it that bird flu keeps making headlines doctor I think it keeps on making head lines because it's like you know waiting for that blade to fall um I you know and we need to be prepared and I think.

That's what's happening you know I think we're not that worried right now because uh the both cases the case in Texas last month this case in Michigan they've been very mild uh with just conjunctivitis of red eye but I think the threat of something more serious um is a real possibility and that's because the virus has been undergoing dozens of mutations.

Uh even over the last few months so you know at some point is going to jump to human and we're going to get human to human so but we're in a very different place from Co and of course when people talk about and think about infectious diseases everybody remembers Co and and thinks about uh the way that it was transmitted.

Between person to person can you compare contrast how Co is transmitted between human to human compared to say how transmissible bird flu is between human to human yes so uh Co is one of the most infectious uh agents that we have close to measles but right now um you know bird flu in its current form is blocked from entering humans very efficiently.

It's kind of like forcing the door open whereas regular human flu gets into humans very very easily because the key fits in but if that bird flu h5n1 mutates and fits into the keyhole uh that's when things will get uh you know go south potentially but we're also in a different place from covid because we have a vaccine we have testing um we.

Have at least four drugs it's just a matter of communication distribution um and testing we've been watching the footage on our screen lots and lots of cows uh we always show these images is how is it that a disease can make its way jump from a cow to a human so it turns out that in this.

Particular outbreak there's an extremely high viral load of influenza in the cow's milk for some reason it got into the the milk system of the cow and when Dairy workers are exposed to such high viral loads and it splashes um uh that's how it's causing disease currently um in this current form and you know it really speaks to needing eye protection for.

These Dairy workers uh because both cases Texas last month Michigan today or the last couple days they have been really uh probably from splashing of the mid as I mentioned we've been covering this with you for a couple months here is there any reason to be more concerned about this now than say when we first asked you about this about two months.

Ago I don't think um we have to be concerned right now for humano human transmission but what it is meaning to me is that it's continues to be a wakeup call to federal agencies to Public Health agencies um to the CDC to really try to organize things uh and that includes funding and of course the government.

Gave uh announced $200 million but including $28 ,000 per Dair Farm which some may say may not be enough because um not enough Dairy workers are being tested for pro possibly for fear of financial losses in the dairy farms which I totally understand but we're a little bit handicapped right there but to answer your question um it just means.

That we need to be organized we need to get our ducks in a row so to speak as we mentioned at the top this new case in Michigan is prompting Health officials to encourage people who work closely with potentially infected animals to remain Vigilant is there any reason for everyday folks to to be extra cautious about this at this point or is that not.

The point that we're at yet I think the only things that I would uh caution people to do your average person is to be um you know watch out or be cautious around drinking raw milk or cheeses from unpasteurized milk um particularly if you're very old or very young or immune compromis number two don't handle uh sick cows if you can.

Help it and certainly not dead birds and then number three just be on the watch out for some of these symptoms um you know so that you know we can be just aware of it and again uh nothing to panic about just to be aware about that's the phase where we're at and to advocate for uh more of these efforts from our Public Health agencies and did.

You say it was a red eye that that was how it manifested itself and that was how it was picked up that that was the first symptom that was seen yes so in this worker uh the worker was part of a surveillance uh group uh so um was being tested and that's another great Point Austin the virus test was positive from the eyes but not from the nose the nose.

Is what we typically would swab for viruses like in covid uh so again what this case illustrates in Michigan is that clinicians need to be aware that you need to swab more than one place uh to really find this virus in this present state where it's not completely mutated yet we talked with you not too long ago about the situation out of.

Texas there was a Texas dairy farm worker I'm reading this who who was the first human case earlier in the spring we we covered that one before and then this Michigan workers only symptom was that eye infection so that that would be the way like if if somebody were to perhaps get a red eye and it is a red eye correct that's what you would look.

For yes right now it's a red eye but given the behavior of influenza in general if it mutates uh enough and the pig is a great place for it to mutate because the pig can get infected with both human and bird flu um then you can possibly get regular symptoms of uh influenza which includes muscle aches headache uh difficulty breathing and if.

You drink unpasturized milk that happen to be infected you probably get um you know gastrointestinal symptoms as well all right Dr Peter chin Hong as always we appreciate your Insight and Analysis take care and have a good rest of your night bye Austin thank you

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