Edward Helmore
Thu 19 Dec 2024 09.08 EST

Health officials in Los Angeles are investigating three household cats presumed to have bird flu, as officials confirmed the disease in two other cats who drank recalled raw milk and died.

The Los Angeles county department of public health confirmed two fatal cases of H5 bird flu in cats on Wednesday. The two felines had consumed raw milk linked to Raw Farm, a dairy in Fresno, California, that was subject to a recall of raw milk and cream products last month.

The two cats initially showed a lack of appetite, fever and neurologic signs. As their symptoms worsened, they tested positive for influenza A, a rare result in cats, that was later confirmed as H5 bird flu.

The three cats who may also now be infected with bird flu all lived in the same household, according to authorities. Humans who came into contact with the animals are now being monitored for symptoms. Cats are considered highly susceptible to bird flu ...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/19/california-cat-bird-flu-death

Artis Curiskis

On Wednesday, California became the first state to issue a declaration of emergency regarding the avian flu (H5N1). That same day, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the first severe case of the flu in a human on US soil and outbreaks in cow herds were detected in Southern California ...

This year was the first time the flu was detected in cows in the US, and it has ripped through many Western states’ dairy farms with startling speed. Since March, the virus has been found in cow herds of 16 states. For the last few months, infected herds have largely been concentrated in California—the state that makes up about 20 percent of the nation’s dairy industry. Last week, Texas, another one of the nation’s top dairy producing states, saw the reappearance of bird flu after two months without a detected outbreak ...

https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2024/12/bird-flu-milk-dairy-cows-avian-flu-raw-milk/

Lisa Schnirring December 20, 2024
Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)
milking dairy cows
Toa55/iStock

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) today reported two more H5 avian flu infections, both in dairy workers, raising the state's total to 36. Also, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today confirmed a presumptive case that Wisconsin reported this week in a poultry worker, raising the nation's total to 64 from 9 states since the start of the year ...

Erica Pan, MD, MPH, state epidemiologist, said California health officials have monitored about 5,000 people and tested 130 who had potential symptoms. She also added that officials have followed up on numerous wastewater detections as the state battles ongoing outbreaks in dairy cattle and poultry.

Annette Jones, DVM, state veterinarian, said that, of 679 dairy farms that were under quarantine, 66 have been released. The state has been proactively conducting testing at dairy farms, and recently it extended testing to farms in the southern part of the state where the virus was detected within the past 2 weeks. She said the positive test results in the south triggered proactively testing of dairy cattle on the North Coast, which has fewer farms than the Central Valley ...

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/avian-influenza-bird-flu/avian-flu-infects-2-more-california-dairy-workers-cdc-confirms-wisconsin

... A new wave of bird-flu infections on American poultry farms since March has severely reduced the number of laying hens in the country, with predictable effects on the supply of eggs. Consumer prices for eggs rose 4.8% in August and 8.4% in September, retreated in October, and jumped 8.2% again in November.

The average price of a dozen large grade-A eggs reached $3.65 in November, up 8.3% from a month earlier, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Although that is below the recent high of $3.82 set in September, it is 71% higher than in November 2023 ...

Egg prices aren’t the only problem stemming from the avian flu, which has been spreading among dairy cows as well. Infected herds have been identified in more than a dozen states. This week, California declared a state of emergency over the outbreak, after H5N1, the virus that causes avian influenza, was found in hundreds of dairies in the state.

While pasteurized milk—heated to get rid of ​​pathogens like bacteria and viruses—is safe to drink, the H5N1 virus can be spread in raw milk. While there have been no case of infection in humans directly associated with unpasteurized milk so far, raw milk sold in Californian stores has been recalled in recent weeks after the virus was detected in retail supplies ...

https://www.barrons.com/articles/bird-flu-trump-egg-prices-raw-milk-0955db92

All I know to do is gasp and go “d a y a m”…sad, sad, very sad face 😢

Having pasteurized eggs Before we do that, let's start the removal of the galvanized water pipe and dipped zinc pipe.