Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza and the government

This year’s avian influenza (aka bird flu) has made headlines for being the first time in U.S. history that avian influenza has been infecting cows. Called ‘highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1)’ (HPAI), the infection of cows and at least one person in Texas through contact with infected dairy cows, has surprised scientists.

What H5N1 is and what states have reported having it

Currently, H5N1 has been reported in dairy milking cattle in eight states across the U.S. including Idaho, New Mexico, South Dakota, Kansas, Texas, Michigan, Ohio, and North Carolina. The Food and Drug Administration announced on Tuesday that particles of the virus were found in some samples of pasteurized milk but is not a threat to humans in that form.

“HPAI in dairy cows was first reported in Texas and Kansas by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on March 25, 2024,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said in a press release. “Unpasteurized milk from sick cattle collected from two dairy farms in Kansas and one in Texas, as well as a throat swab from a cow in another dairy in Texas, tested positive for HPAI A(H5) viruses of the genetic clade 2.3.4.4b, which is the same clade that is widespread among birds globally. On March 29, 2024, USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) confirmed HPAI in a Michigan dairy herd that had recently received cows from Texas. The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is providing regular updates on detections in dairy herds, as well as information on epidemiological findings and biosecurity guidance for farmers and veterinarians. Preliminary analysis of A(H5N1) viruses has not found changes that would make these viruses resistant to current FDA-approved flu antiviral medications, so these are believed to be effective against these viruses.”

According to the CDC, it is uncommon for humans to be infected with avian influenza A viruses like H5N1, but sporadic occurrences have been reported worldwide. In 2022, a person in Colorado became the first in the U.S. to test positive for avian influenza A(H5) virus. The person had direct exposure to poultry, being “involved in the culling (depopulating) of  poultry with presumptive H5N1 bird flu.”

There has been evidence since 2008 that it is possible for cattle to be infected with H5N1 when in a laboratory setting. Scientists from the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, in Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany had experimented by infecting six calves with an H5 virus found in an infected cat. All calves remained healthy but all seroconverted— they developed antibodies showing an infection had taken hold.

APHIS has provided the following list of things to look for when it comes to HPAI in birds:

• Sudden death without any prior symptoms of illness
• Lack of energy and appetite
• A drop in egg production or soft-shelled, misshapen eggs
• Swelling of the eyelids, comb, wattles, and shanks
• Purple discoloration of the wattles, comb, and legs
• Gasping for air (difficulty breathing)
• Nasal discharge, coughing, sneezing
• Twisting of the head and neck (torticollis)
• Stumbling or falling down
• Diarrhea

APHIS says on their webpage that “biosecurity is key to protecting your flock.” Avian influenza usually spreads through direct bird contact, however it can also be spread through “contaminated surfaces or materials, such as manure; egg flats, crates, or other farming materials and equipment; and people’s clothing, shoes, or hands.”

What’s being said about this bird flu

A lot of things have been said about this bird flu. Chief Scientific Officer Peter McCullough, MD, MPH, suggested on ‘Real America’s Voice’ that bird flu could be “Disease X”. Disease X being the term used by the World Health Organization (WHO) to represent a serious international epidemic caused by a pathogen currently unknown to cause human disease.

The WHO has called the bird flu risk to humans an “enormous threat.”

“The great concern, of course, is that in doing so, and infecting ducks and chickens but now increasingly mammals is that virus now evolves and develops the ability to infect humans and then critically the ability to go from human-to-human transmission,” said WHO Chief Scientist Jeremy Farrar.

According to the CDC, “No known human-to-human spread has occurred with the contemporary A(H5N1) viruses that are currently circulating in birds in the United States and globally.”

The CDC considers the risk assessment for the general public to be low. According to their website, they are “working closely with the USDA to monitor the current H5N1 bird flu situation in wild birds and poultry, dairy cows, and sporadic infections in other mammals, and will provide updates as information is available.”

In a press release, they noted that the person who has been infected with the H5N1 virus had redness of eyes consistent with conjunctivitis as their only symptom and has been instructed to isolate while they recover. They are being treated with an antiviral drug for flu.

The USDA and Bird Flu

Animal rights organization White Coat Waste Project (WCW), who exposed the Wuhan lab for its illegal gain-of-function research on COVID-19, worked with Sen. Joni Ernst, a Republican from Iowa, to uncover that the USDA has spent at least $1 million in taxpayers’ money on more gain-of-function experiments. According to WCW, the USDA has had an “ongoing collaboration with the CCP-run Chinese Academy of Sciences (the Wuhan animal lab’s parent organization) and a Wuhan lab white coat to see if they can make ‘highly pathogenic avian influenza’ more contagious to mammals in cruel and dangerous gain-of-function experiments.”

WCW investigators found this is a U.S.-UK-China collab that started back in April of 2021 with the collaboration not ending until the end of March 2026. WCW noted that experiments will use “the gain-of-function technique of repeatedly infecting ducks, geese, quail, and other animals with wild bird flu viruses to force the pathogens to evolve into unnatural lab-created strains and study their ‘potential to jump into mammalian hosts.’”

The bird flu viruses that are being experimented on are (H5NX, H7N9, and H9N2). These viruses are considered dangerous to humans and deadly outbreaks of these viruses have previously been reported. H5NX is an umbrella term that encompasses all influenza A virus subtypes that have an HA 5 protein and any other NA protein, including H5N1.

The USDA’s Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory, the CCP-run Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute (a Wuhan lab partner) are reported to be the main collaborators on the project.

WCW also noted that a Deputy Director at a CCP-run virus lab that is affiliated with the Wuhan lab is the “lead Chinese animal experimenter on the USDA project”.

Recent reporting by STAT suggests that the USDA has not been forthcoming with information on the virus.

“Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, said the USDA’s limited data sharing is fomenting a sense of distrust about the way the outbreak investigation is being handled.

“‘They are creating the perception that something is happening or not happening that would not meet with the public’s approval,’ Osterholm said. ‘And this is really unfortunate. There’s no evidence here that there’s some kind of a smoking gun, that somebody did something wrong. Just tell us what you’re doing. And that’s not happening.’”

The Kansas Constitutional reached out to the USDA APHIS, the lead agency for such activities in domestic birds and agricultural livestock, to see if the USDA would be willing to confirm or deny responsibility for the HPAI. They would not respond.

Sen. Marshall’s remarks on the USDA-CCP relationship

Sen. Roger Marshall, MD (R-KS) has been active in questioning the USDA in regards to their work with the CCP.

“We have led several letters and had the chance to ask USDA many times about its inappropriate relationships with the Chinese Communist Party, which seem to fall on deaf ears,” Sen. Marshall told The Kansas Constitutional in an email. “After the dangerous viral gain-of-function research was exposed, proving that COVID-19 was developed in a lab and also recognizing the bio-security deficiencies in labs in China, a USDA relationship with China should be persona non grata.”

In July of last year Sen. Marshall led a letter to the USDA regarding their relationship with BGI, a genomic data collection firm deemed by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to be linked to China’s People’s Liberation Army—the armed wing of the CCP and the principal military force of the People’s Republic of China. According to a press release, the USDA has awarded over $1 million to BGI in research grants through collaboration with its Agriculture Research Service (ARS) since 2018.

Sen. Marshall followed this up in September, questioning USDA Deputy Under Secretary Gloria Greene about the department’s relationship with China during a Senate Ag Committee Hearing. His questions were not answered during the meeting, however.

For constituents who may be worried about the new HPAI, Sen. Marshall has said that his office has “been in close contact with industry stakeholders and the Kansas Department of Agriculture” and that from the information they have received there is no human health concern.

“Our dairymen work closely with veterinarians to monitor their livestock’s health and ensure any sick cows are cared for and are not being milked for human consumption,” Sen. Marshall told The Kansas Constitutional in an email. “All milk for sale at local grocery stores has also been pasteurized, which is effective against influenza. Thankfully, cattle are not greatly impacted by the HPAI virus, and it certainly isn’t deadly at the level it is in birds; livestock seems to get better.”

Sen. Marshall also said that his office will continue to closely monitor this issue.

Bird flu in China

In 1997, China became the first place where H5N1 infected people. A total of 18 people were infect with 6 of them dying. No infection from bird flu were reported in humans again until 2003 when a family of three visited Fujian in China and contracted the virus with two of them ultimately dying. From 2005 to 2015, a number of people would become infected with H5N1 in China each year, totaling 52 people infected and 30 people who died from the virus in China. From 2016 to 2021, there were no reports of anyone being infected with H5N1 in China. In 2022, a person became infected and died by H5N1 for the first time since 2015. There have been no cases of H5N1 virus in China as of this publishing in 2024.