vets,Dr Thomas Peacock, a specialist in animal-to-human propagation of viruses at The Pirbright Institute, said H5N1 could be propagating unnoticed in the US because of “months of missing data” that leaves researchers, vets and regulators in the dark.
After escaping from wild birds earlier in the year, the strain is presently spreading among dairy cows in the United States.
The virus has also infected four workers on cattle ranches, and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently announced the first human case without any known animal interaction.
In every case of infection to date, the symptoms have been modest.
According to Dr. Peacock, the possibility of invisible chains of transmission quietly circulating through swine barns, farm worker barracks, or developing nations while going unnoticed due to stringent testing regulations, apprehension about government authorities, or a lack of funding keeps scientists up at night.
Only mandatory reporting of the disease in poultry, not in mammals, is in place in the US. The Department of Agriculture is the only entity that needs to test nursing cattle before they can cross state borders.
Additionally, H5N1 has spread among wild marine mammals worldwide and in European fur farms.
