Some Veterinarians Who Provide Care For Cattle Were Unknowingly Infected With H5N1 Avian Influenza Last Year, CDC Report Says

The Washington Post (2/13, Sun) says, “A scientific report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published Thursday shows some veterinarians who provide care for cattle were unknowingly infected with the H5N1 avian influenza virus last year.” The new “report is the latest evidence that the outbreak in dairy herds is spreading undetected in cows, and the spillover into people at highest risk of exposure is going unnoticed.” The findings were published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The New York Times (2/13, Anthes) reports “three dairy veterinarians, including one who worked only in states with no known bird flu outbreaks in cows, had recent, undetected bird flu infections, according to” the study. The findings “are based on antibody testing of 150 veterinarians working in 46 U.S. states.” Bloomberg (2/13, Nix, Subscription Publication) reports two of the veterinarians “had no known prior exposure, researchers said.” One veterinarian “worked with cows in Georgia and South Carolina, where no cases in cattle had been reported at the time, according to” the study. None of the three veterinarians “had influenza-like symptoms or conjunctivitis that are common among most infected people.”