Fast-Growing Outbreak Of Bird Flu Hits Nation’s Largest Milk Producer

The New York Times: Bird Flu Has Hit California Dairies So Hard That They’re Calling It ‘Covid For Cows’
A fast-growing outbreak of avian flu has upended California’s dairy industry, the nation’s largest producer of milk, infecting most of the state’s herds and putting thousands of farmworkers at risk for contracting the virus. In just about four months, cows in 645 dairies in California have tested positive for H5N1, even as many ranchers have taken strict precautions to stop the virus from spreading. ... The virus is spreading so quickly that dairy farmers are calling it “Covid for cows,” and scientists are racing to figure out how to stop the contagion. (Karlamangla, Mayorquín and Jiménez, 12/19)

CNN: More Raw Milk Recalled In California After Discovery Of Bird Flu Virus In Farm Tank
The California Department of Food and Agriculture has issued a statewide recall of raw milk produced and packaged by Valley Milk Simply Bottled after H5N1 bird flu virus was found in samples from a bulk tank at the company’s dairy farm. The recall applies to all Valley Milk and Desi Milk raw cow milk in quarter, half-gallon or gallon jugs marked with dates between December 23 and December 30, the agency said in a statement. (Dillinger, 12/19)

Stat: California Bird Flu Emergency Declaration Highlights A Larger Issue 
In the ongoing outbreak of H5N1 bird flu among the nation’s dairy cattle, federal officials have consistently expressed confidence that they know enough about how the virus is spreading to put a stop to it. But among epidemiologists and other infectious disease experts, there has been skepticism that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s theory of viral transmission is telling the whole story. And perhaps there is no greater cause for scrutiny than what’s currently happening in California. (Molteni, 12/20)

CBS News: Minnesota Officials Monitoring Human Case Of Bird Flu In Wisconsin Closely
Wisconsin has identified its first human case of the bird flu. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services announced Wednesday that it had detected a presumptive positive human case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A, or H5N1, in Barron County. The Wisconsin DHS said the human case followed an infected flock of commercial poultry in the same county. (Mitchell, 12/19)

The Washington Post: What To Know About Bird Flu Outbreak And What Are Its Symptoms
As the Trump administration prepares to take office, the H5N1 strain of avian influenza is one of the top emerging infectious-disease threats. The virus has started to spread among dairy cows for the first time and has infected dozens of Americans, mostly farmworkers. While public health experts still consider bird flu a low risk for the general public, they warn it could spark the next pandemic if it is left unchecked and transforms to transmit easily between humans. Here’s what to know about the virus, how it spreads and the toll it is inflicting. (Nirappil, 12/19)

CNN: How Do People Catch Bird Flu? 
As bird flu infections rise in dairy cattle and chickens, human cases are ticking up too, leaving many people to wonder whether they might be at risk from this recently arrived virus. Bird flu infections are rare in people. Sixty-one human cases have been confirmed in the US this year, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and all but three have been in people who work on poultry or dairy farms. (Goodman, 12/19)

KFF Health News: How America Lost Control Of The Bird Flu, Setting The Stage For Another Pandemic
Keith Poulsen’s jaw dropped when farmers showed him images on their cellphones at the World Dairy Expo in Wisconsin in October. A livestock veterinarian at the University of Wisconsin, Poulsen had seen sick cows before, with their noses dripping and udders slack. But the scale of the farmers’ efforts to treat the sick cows stunned him. They showed videos of systems they built to hydrate hundreds of cattle at once. In 14-hour shifts, dairy workers pumped gallons of electrolyte-rich fluids into ailing cows through metal tubes inserted into the esophagus. (Maxmen, 12/20)

On covid, norovirus —

MedPage Today: Long COVID Symptoms Improve With Outpatient Intervention
Self-reported physical function was better for long COVID patients after a brief outpatient program based on cognitive and behavioral therapy, a pragmatic trial in Norway showed. The between-group difference was nearly identical at long-term follow-up (12 months after enrollment), indicating a sustained effect, Nerli and colleagues wrote in JAMA Network Open. Most other measures of functional capability and symptom scores showed more improvement in the intervention group. Adverse events in the intervention group were fewer compared with usual care. (George, 12/19)

NPR: Louisiana Forbids Public Health Workers From Promoting COVID, Flu And Mpox Shots
A group of high-level managers at the Louisiana Department of Health walked into a Nov. 14 meeting in Baton Rouge expecting to talk about outreach and community events. Instead, they were told by an assistant secretary in the department and another official that department leadership had a new policy: Advertising or otherwise promoting the COVID, influenza or mpox vaccines, an established practice there — and at most other public health entities in the U.S. — must stop. (Westwood, 12/20)

CBS News: Norovirus Outbreaks Reported On 3 Cruise Ships This Month, Sickening Hundreds
Hundreds of cruise passengers and workers fell ill with norovirus on three different ships this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The CDC has logged outbreaks in 2024 on 14 cruise voyages, but three ships were hit in December. This is the only month this year when the CDC has reported three confirmed norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships and there's still more than a week to go before the month ends. (Chasan, 12/19)

Also —

AP: Congo Man Dies With Hemorrhagic Fever, Indicating Mystery Outbreak Could Be More Than Just Malaria
A man in western Congo died Thursday with hemorrhagic fever symptoms, leading officials to suspect that a still-unidentified virus may be involved alongside malaria in a mysterious outbreak that has killed dozens of people, health authorities said. ... But the death of the man with hemorrhagic fever — not normally associated with parasite-caused malaria — could indicate a virus at work as well. (Pronczuk, 12/19)