Although the COVID-19 pandemic has come and gone, other infectious diseases have been reported across the country. Cases of the avian (bird) flu and mpox clade 1 have been reported in the United States. These infectious diseases follow the E.coli outbreak from the McDonald’s Quarter Pounders. Many health professionals call these potential outbreaks dangerous.
“Emerging infectious diseases are unpredictable. If you told me 20 years ago that we were going to have major problems with coronaviruses, I wouldn’t have predicted that,” said Ian Lipkin, an expert on emerging viral threats.
Blood samples from 115 Michigan and Colorado dairy workers revealed that the H5N1 avian flu had been “flying” undetected. The 115 dairy workers have not been severely impacted by the disease, and most have reported only feeling mild symptoms.
Starting in late March 2024, an outbreak of the avian flu among cows caused unrest in the dairy manufacturing industry. Many dairy workers had reported feeling slightly ill, though none had been tested for the bird flu in particular.
Eventually, a blood test was performed between June and August of this year, where around 7% of the patients tested were shown to have antibodies that protect against the bird flu. Due to the presence of antibodies, the researchers believed that those who had tested positive for such antibodies had previously had a mild case of the bird flu. Those who had the antibodies did not feel symptoms, and didn’t even report feeling ill.
“It’s pretty sad because these people are mostly migrant workers who just need income. They work hard and are the backbone of the agricultural economy, and ideally they would have the risks of the job better communicated to them,” NHS senior Ryan Michlovitz said.
Along with the 115 dairy workers, it was released that a child had contracted the H5N1 avian flu. Similar to the dairy workers, the child experienced mild symptoms, but has now made a full recovery.
While the CDC announced that the current public health risk was low, the department also voiced their concerns that the virus could evolve into more dangerous strains. They cited the avian flu cases in Cambodia, where three patients have already died. The three patients that died, along with an unknown number of patients in critical condition, have been infected with a hybrid strain (a combination of 2.3.2.1c and 2.3.4.4b) of the avian flu. The strain was spread directly from poultry in Cambodia, and can be spread through the air and direct contact with animals infected.
However, medical professionals in Cambodia say that the outbreak has been contained, and there has been limited human-to-human transmission.
Canada also reported their first case of the avian flu. A teenager, who is in critical condition from contracting the virus, is believed to have been infected by the US Dairy Cow outbreak that happened starting in late March. Early genetic sequencing tests have shown that the teen contracted a strand of the virus that had evolved from the simple avian flu.
To this point, the Canadian teen seems to be the only case of the avian flu in the country. However, medical professionals fear that the new strain of the avian flu may lead to a higher risk of transmission, and that the patient should be closely monitored and tracked.
Along with the avian flu scare, the first case of clade 1 mpox in the United States was discovered in California. The patient from California had recently returned from a trip to East Africa, and was treated and released by a small healthcare facility in California after their symptoms improved.
Since being released, the person has remained isolated in their home, reporting improved symptoms and that they’re feeling better. The California Department of Health has conducted numerous tests, and continues to test, in order to figure out the root cause of the disease.
“It scares me. It reminds me of the first few cases of COVID-19 in the states. We didn’t think much about them then, what makes this any different?” NHS senior Shaun Daoust said.
There are two strains of the mpox virus; clade 1 and clade 2. Clade 1 is widely regarded as the more dangerous strand, with mortality rates reaching 11%. Clade 2 has a <1% mortality rate, and with modern medicine, almost no person has died since contracting the clade 2 strain of mpox.
Clade 2 mpox has been circulating in the US since an outbreak in 2022, though it has remained out of the public eye due to the efforts of medical professionals around the world. Since 2022, there have been over 32,000 cases of clade 2 mpox in the US, though the CDC stopped counting after the outbreak slowed in 2023.
Since the clade 2 outbreak in 2022, researchers have conducted a wide range of both clade 1 and clade 2 simulations. The CDC says that these simulations have helped researchers learn more about mpox while also showing that the close contact transmission rate is relatively low.
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