SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — As federal agencies work to slow the spread of bird flu, a Bay Area infectious diseases expert is breaking down the risks here at home, and what to be on the lookout for.
“It does give us a wake-up call that we need to continue the good fight,” said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious diseases expert at UCSF.
He’s talking about the spread of bird flu, also known as avian flu. The virus has now been detected in cows in nine states and is showing up in grocery store milk — the FDA emphasizing that it is still safe to drink.
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“We need to continue to do surveillance to be on the lookout for something that might affect our communities. And that means investing in public health and surveillance and genetic analysis, which is happening right now,” said Chin-Hong.
The Department of Agriculture issued a federal order this week, requiring more bird flu testing in dairy cows. The concern being that if the virus keeps spreading among mammals, it could bring the disease closer to being able to spread among humans.
“I think people are worried that if this particular strain of bird flu infects a pig — because a pig can be infected with both human flu and bird flu — they can sort of like commingle and then create a kind of bird flu that can infect humans,” said Chin-Hong.
And while there are no reports of the disease spreading among cows in California, The Bay Area has been hit hard by the bird flu in past years.
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Hundreds of thousands of chickens and ducks had to be destroyed after an outbreak in Sonoma County last fall, causing egg and poultry prices to soar. Bill Mattos of the California Poultry Federation told Dan Noyes of our ABC7 News I-Team. The avian flu outbreak was devastating for the poultry industry.
“When you have a depopulation of a ranch because of bird flu, the ranch is disinfected and cleaned, and then it’s gotta stay empty for a while for it to make sure it doesn’t have any more diseases. So that farmer is out a few months of actually work income,” Mattos said.
Meanwhile, Chin-Hong has a few reminders for staying safe: “Number one, don’t drink unpasteurized milk at this point, no raw milk. Number two, don’t handle dead birds or sick cows. And number three, if you’ve handled that — birds or sick cows — please seek medical attention.
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