Heading Into Season Of State Fairs, Experts Warily Eye H5N1 Dynamics

CIDRAP: Experts Consider H5N1 Avian Flu Unknowns As State Fairs Loom 
In the next 6 to 10 weeks, hundreds of state and country fairs will take place across the United States, and thousands of Americans will attend agricultural shows, walk through barns, watch dairy cattle be milked, and even observe an animal giving birth. But veterinarians, public health researchers, and scientists are unclear to what extent—if any—the recent explosion in cases of H5N1 avian influenza in dairy cattle will affect animals on exhibition or pose a threat to human health. H5N1 is deadly to poultry, but causes mild to moderate symptoms in the bovine population. So far, humans who have been infected with H5N1 via contact with infected cows have also exhibited mild illness, but case numbers in humans remain low. (Soucheray, 7/29)

Minnesota Public Radio: Birthing Cows And Newborn Calves Will Be Absent From The Minnesota State Fair
There will be a noticeable part of the Minnesota State Fair missing this year.Due to the avian flu, state agricultural industry officials say the Miracle of Birth Center at the fair will not have birthing cows or newborn calves. (7/29)

The New York Times: New York Has Only 1 Drug Stockpiled In Case Of A Bird Flu Epidemic
New York’s plan for confronting bird flu if it begins spreading among people relies heavily on a vast stockpile of flu treatment medicine. But experts worry the stockpile is missing a key tool. New York has only one type of flu antiviral drug, Tamiflu, which might prove less effective than hoped against a pandemic strain of bird flu, some experts say. There is another antiviral that might work, even if Tamiflu doesn’t — a drug called baloxavir marboxil. And yet the state has not stored a single dose of it in case of emergency. (Goldstein, 7/29)

ABC News: New Initiative Launched By WHO To Develop MRNA Bird Flu Vaccines
The World Health Organization announced Monday that it has launched an initiative to help accelerate the development of a human bird flu vaccine using messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. The project, which will be led by Argentinian pharmaceutical company Sinergium Biotech, will aim to identify vaccine candidates for manufacturers in low- and middle-income countries, the WHO said. (Kekatos, 7/30)

Reuters: Drugmaker Sinergium To Share Bird Flu Vaccine Data Globally, Says WHO 
Bird flu vaccine developer Sinergium Biotech will share its data with manufacturers in low and middle-income countries to help to accelerate a fair rollout if a pandemic occurs, the World Health Organization said on Monday. (Farge, 7/29)

On covid and valley fever —

CIDRAP: SARS-CoV-2 Widespread In Virginia Wildlife, Likely From People
Deer mice, opossums, raccoons, groundhogs, Eastern cottontail rabbits, and Eastern red bats had signs of infection, and isolates from an opossum showed previously unreported viral mutations closely matching the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant circulating in people at the time, which the authors said suggests at least seven recent human-to-animal virus transmission events. The mutations could alter the virus's effects on people. The team also identified two mice on the same day with the same variant, indicating that one mouse infected the other or that they both were infected by the same person. (Van Beusekom, 7/29)

Los Angeles Times: Valley Fever Strikes Attendees Of California Music Festival
California health officials are urging people who attended the Kern County music festival Lightning in a Bottle to seek medical care if they are experiencing respiratory symptoms or a fever. Authorities have identified five patients with valley fever who attended the six-day event, which was held May 22-27 at Buena Vista Lake, near Bakersfield. Three people have been hospitalized. More than 20,000 people attended the festival. (Rust, 7/29)