Health officers in Marin County are investigating a attainable H5N1 chicken flu case in a baby.
Officials have been investigating since final week and are working with the California Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to find out how the kid was uncovered.
The data was supplied in a Friday “health status update” newsletter, and buried on the finish of a paragraph in regards to the county and state’s monitoring of the virus, uncooked milk and a observe a few new USDA program designed to test milk nationwide.
If confirmed, this may be the second case of an contaminated youngster in California.
“It’s deeply regarding that one other youngster might have H5N1. We have to know way more about this case, together with some hypotheses for the way he or she might have contracted the virus,” mentioned Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University in Providence, R.I. “Given the proximity of this case to the final case of H5N1 identified in a baby with out identified publicity to animals, it might be prudent to conduct a broader investigation, together with a serologic research, to see if there may be proof of different infections within the space.”
Last month, state well being officers announced a child in Alameda County was positive for the disease. Investigators haven’t been in a position to decide the supply of publicity. The youngster suffered from delicate respiratory signs, and nobody else within the youngster’s household or day care was contaminated.
Neither the state nor county public well being officers have responded to queries from The Times, and no additional data was supplied within the e-newsletter.
If confirmed, this may be 61st human case of chicken flu this yr. Two instances have been introduced in Arizona on Friday — each instances involving dairy staff.
This would even be the third case within the U.S. this yr the place the supply of publicity is unknown. Aside from the case of the kid in Alameda County, an individual in Missouri was additionally contaminated by an unknown supply.
Outside the U.S., a teenager in Canada was also infected by the virus — supply unknown — and has remained in essential situation for 3 weeks with extreme illness.
Most of the human instances within the United States have concerned dairy staff and poultry staff — uncovered in locations the place the virus is understood to current.
To date, most instances of H5N1 chicken flu in folks have been delicate, involving conjunctivitis, or pink eye, and delicate higher respiratory signs.
Investigators might want to consider the genetic sequencing of the virus to find out if the virus is of dairy or chicken origin.
Wastewater samples collected by WastewaterScan — an infectious illness monitoring community led by researchers at Stanford and Emory universities, with lab testing companion Verily, Alphabet Inc.’s life sciences group — has proven the virus is extensively current within the setting, together with Marin County websites in San Raphael and Novato.
In the final two weeks, state health and agriculture officials suspended and recalled contaminated uncooked milk that had made its approach to grocery retailer cabinets all through the state.
There have been no identified outbreaks related to that uncooked milk, and it’s unclear if folks can get the illness by consuming it in milk.
However, a number of mammal species have displayed extreme sickness and dying after consuming uncooked milk together with cats and mice.
Mark McAfee, the proprietor of the contaminated uncooked milk farm — Raw Farm LLC — informed The Times final week that he believed the milk had gone out to 90,000 clients.
Asked how he decided that quantity, he mentioned, “Our customers purchase each week…. it’s very dependable. We have 500 shops and primarily based on greenback quantity per checkout, it’s our greatest guess.”
The state’s well being and agriculture departments have been unable to substantiate that quantity.
