New bird flu variant found in Nevada

[LoreD]

The diseases coming from animal agriculture show that this is not sustainable.

New bird flu variant found in Nevada dairy cows has experts sounding alarms: ‘We have never been closer to a pandemic from this virus’​

New bird flu variant found in Nevada dairy cows has experts sounding alarms: ‘We have never been closer to a pandemic from this virus’

Dairy herds in Nevada have been infected by a version of the H5N1 bird flu not previously seen in cows, putting virologists on high alert.

www.yahoo.com

The disclosure that dairy herds in Nevada have been infected by a version of the H5N1 bird flu not previously seen in cows, has put virologists and researchers on high alert. Among other things, the news from the Nevada Department of Agriculture, suggests that driving the virus out of the U.S. cattle population won’t be nearly as simple as federal officials once suggested—or perhaps hoped.

On Friday came a second and potentially more serious blow: A technical brief by the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that the genotype, known as D1.1, contains a genetic mutation that may help the virus more easily copy itself in mammals—including humans. This D1.1 version of the virus is the same variant that killed a man in Louisiana and left a Canadian teen hospitalized in critical condition.

“We have never been closer to a pandemic from this virus,” Bright adds. “And we still are not doing everything possible to prevent it or reduce the impact if it hits.” “Given the fact that D1.1 seems to be more virulent in humans, this could indicate a major change in terms of public health risks from the earlier scenario with the B3.13 strain,” veterinary science pioneer Juergen Richt, a former director at the National Institutes of Health, tells Fortune.

 

[LoreD]

'Unprecedented': How bird flu became an animal pandemic

Bird flu is decimating wildlife around the world and is now spreading in cows. In the handful of human cases seen so far it has been extremely deadly.

www.bbc.com

The impact on animals has already been devastating. Since it was first identified, the H5 strain of avian influenza and its variants have led to the slaughter of over half a billion farmed birds. Wild-bird deaths are estimated in the millions, with around 600,000 in South America since 2023 alone – and both numbers potentially far higher due to the difficulties of monitoring.

At least 26 species of mammals have also been infected. In Denmark, millions of mink were culled after bird flu spread through fur farms. In France, a captive bear was found to be infected, as have free-ranging bears in Canada. Among wild mammals, scavengers and marine mammals have been particularly badly hit. The virus has killed ten of thousands of seals and sea lions from Quebec down to Chile, Argentina and Peru - with concerns rising that it may be adapting to spread more easily between mammals and then back to birds.

Along this route, the virus has diverged to infect a wide variety of mammals – including 21 species in the US alone. And with such cross-over, the opportunity for both human contact and mammal-to-mammal spread has increased. Sporadic infections have been detected in a wide range of other mammals in the US, including mountain lions, skunks, dolphins, polar bears, domestic cats, mice and foxes. Meanwhile, an H5N1 virus strain was detected in two pigs on a farm in Oregon in October.

 

[LoreD]

I am usually against forcing vegan food onto pets but there might be a darn good reason now.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/18/health/bird-flu-pet-food-cat-deaths

This might be positive for the cultivated or fermented meat industry. Pet food that is cruelty free and safe from disease.

‘World’s first’ lab-grown meat for pets launches in the UK​

https://www.cnn.com/science/first-lab-grown-meat-pets-meatly-spc/index.html

Meatly’s process involves taking “a single sample of cells from one chicken egg one time,” Ensor explains, which is sufficient to create “an infinite amount of meat forever more.” The cells are fed with a mix of amino acids, vitamins and minerals for about a week, after which the meat is ready and has the consistency of “chicken pâté.”

Meat made this way is nutritionally equivalent to the real thing, he adds, but free of steroids, hormones or antibiotics. Depending on the methods used in traditional animal agriculture, Ensor says it uses 50 to 60% less land, 30 to 40% less water, and creates about 40% fewer CO2 emissions.

However, one of the biggest challenges for cultured meat companies is scaling up to be able to make enough product for a widespread commercial launch. Ensor says that Meatly currently uses 50-liter (13-gallon) bioreactors to grow its cells, but to be able to scale up production, it’s planning to move to a new facility that will employ 20,000-liter (5,200-gallon) bioreactors instead.

 

[YogChakra Vegan Kitchen]

I think Vegan is the future! honestly, so many of our world's ( and our body's) problems could be mitigated with Veganism. I think one of the problems is incomplete information. It is good to have this kind of information for the general public.

 

[silva]

I am usually against forcing vegan food onto pets but there might be a darn good reason now.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/18/health/bird-flu-pet-food-cat-deaths

That was all about feeding raw food!

 

[silva]

Dogs are also susceptible to getting bird flu from drinking from ponds with waterfowl, or bird feces

 

[No Longer Active]

That was all about feeding raw food!

I would remove my post but this forum doesn't seem to allow editing of posts after a while. I'm getting a lot of bad feelings from being on this forum lately and I don't think I will be coming back here. If it allows me to remove my account I will do so but we don't seem to have much control of our own posts here so I doubt I can.

 

[LoreD]

Bird flu ravages more than 10 million Ohio chickens in last 30 days, USDA reports​

Bird flu ravages more than 10 million Ohio chickens in last 30 days, USDA reports

Ohio has been experiencing the highest levels of bird flu outbreaks in the nation since the start of 2025.

www.dispatch.com

On Wednesday, the Ohio Department of Health reported the first human case of bird flu in the state in a Mercer County man who works on a farm. He came into contact with infected dead poultry. Mercer County is located in west central Ohio along the border with Indiana.

Roughly 10.3 million Ohio chickens have been impacted by bird flu in the last 30 days, making up more than a third of the national outbreak's recent victims as the disease continues to ravage livestock around the country. The birds affected have either died from the flu or have been infected. The infected chickens typically do not live longer than 48 hours after contracting the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Ohio has been experiencing the highest levels of bird flu outbreaks in the nation, The Dispatch previously reported. Roughly 21.1 million birds in Ohio have been affected since the inception of the outbreaks in February 2022. That means nearly half of that number has come in the last month alone. A Feb. 7 U.S. Department of Agriculture report said Ohio has lost 39% of its egg-laying population to the bird flu.