A dangerous an aviar flu strain is spreading in American cattleMediamedium/Alamy
Since Donald Trump assumed the position in January, the United States public health leader has removed preparations for a possible avian flu pandemic. But as it goes back, another government agency is taking a step forward.
While the Department of Health and Human Services of the United States (HHS) previously maintained periodic sessions previously on its efforts to avoid a broader outbreak of a mortus avian flu virus called H5N1 in people, it stopped once Trump assumed the position. It also has caneled funds for a vaccine that would have directed to the virus. In contrast, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has intensified its fight against the propagation of H5N1 in corral birds and dairy herds, even financing the development of cattle vaccines.
This particular virus, an aviar influenza strain called H5N1, raises a significant threat to humans, after having killed approximately half of the approximately 1000 people worldwide who gave positive since 2003. While the pathogen spread rapidly in birds, it is poorly adapted to infect humans and it is known that it is known to convey among people. But that could change if it acquires mutations that allow it to spread more easily among mammals, a risk of increasing with each mammal infection.
The possibility that H5N1 evolves to become more dangerous for people has grown significantly since March 2024, when the virus jumped from migratory birds to dairy cows in Texas. More than 1,070 herds in 17 states have been affected since then.
H5N1 also infects the birds of corral, placing the virus in a proximity closer to people. Since 2022, almost 175 million domestic birds have been sacrificed in the US.
“We need to take this seriously because when [H5N1] It is constantly spreading, it is constantly shedding in humans, ”says Sema Lakdawala of the Emory University in Georgia. The virus has already killed a person in the United States and a child in Mexico this year.
Even so, the cases have decreased under Trump. The last registered human case was in February, and the number of affected poultry flocks fell 95 percent between then and June. The shoots in dairy herds have also stabilized.
It is not clear what is behind the decline. Lakdawala believes that it is partly due to a pause in bird migration, which reduces the opportunities for the virus to spread from wild birds to cattle. It can also reflect the USDA efforts to contain farm sprouts. In February, the USDA announced a plan of $ 1 billion to address H5N1, including strengthening farmers against virus, as through free biosafety evaluations. Of the 150 facilities that have undergone an evaluation, only one has experienced an H5N1 outbreak.
Under Trump, the USDA also continued its national milk test strategy, which requires that the farms provide raw milk samples for influenza tests. If a farm is positive for H5N1, you should allow the USDA to monitor cattle and implement measures to contain the virus. The USDA launched the program in December and since then the particle has increased to 45 states.
“The national milk test strategy is a fantastic system,” says Erin Sorrell at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland. Together with the USDA efforts to improve biosafety measures on farms, milk tests are crucial to contain the outbreak, says Sorrell.
But while the USDA has reinforced its efforts against H5N1, HHS is not an appeal to have followed its example. In fact, the fall recently in human cases may reflect a decrease in surveillance due to the cuts of the workforce, says Sorrell. In April, the HHS dismissed about 10,000 employees, including 90 percent of the staff of the National Institute for Occupational Health and Health, an office that helps investigate H5N1 outbreaks in agricultural workers.
“There is an old saying that if you don’t prove something, you can find it,” says Sorrell. However, a spokesman for the United States disease control and prevention centers (CDC) says that their guidance and surveillance efforts have not changed. “State and local health departments continue to monitor the disease in people exposed to sick animals,” they said. New scientist. “The CDCs remain committed to quickly communicate the information as necessary on H5N1”.
The USDA and HHS also diverge in vaccination. Although the USDA has allocated $ 100 million to develop vaccines and other solutions to prevent H5N1 propagation in livestock, HHS canceled $ 776 million in contracts for the development of the influenza vaccine. The contracts, terminated on May 28, were with the modern pharmaceutical company to develop vaccines aimed at flu subtypes, including H5N1, which could cause future pandemics. The news occurred on the same day that Modern reported that almost 98 percent of the approximately 300 participants who received two doses of the H5 vaccine in a clinical trial had believed that the antibody levels were protectors against the virus.
The United States has about five million doses of H5N1 vaccines stored, but the thesis carried out with eggs and cultivated cells, which takes longer to produce than HRNA -based vaccines such as modern ones. The Modernna vaccine would have modernized the reserve and has allowed the government to quickly produce vaccines in case of pandemic, says Sorrell. “It seems a very effective platform and would have positioned the United States and others to be in good foot if we needed a vaccine for our general audience,” she says.
The HHS canceled the contracts due to concerns about RNM vaccines, about which Robert F Kennedy JR-Official Public Health of the country has questioned in doubt. “The reality is that ARNM technology is still unproven, and we are not going to spend taxpayers dollars repeating the errors of the last administration,” said HHS Communications Director Andrew Nixon, in a statement for New scientist.
However, ARNM technology is not new. It has a bone in development for more than half a century and numerous clinical trials have shown that RNM vaccines are safe. While they have the risk of side effects, most of which are mild, this is true for almost all medical treatment. In a press release, Modern said he would explore alternative financing routes for the program.
“My position is that we should not look to get anything out of the table, and that includes any type of vaccine regime,” says Lakdawala.
“Vaccines are the most effective way to counteract an infectious disease,” says Sorrell. “And thus have that in your arsenal and ready to just give you more options.”