Karen A. Fox, Angele Breithaupt, Martin Beer, Dennis Rubbenstroth, and Florian Pfaff
Abstract
We identified a rustrela virus variant in a wild mountain lion (Puma concolor) in Colorado, USA. The animal had clinical signs and histologic lesions compatible with staggering disease. Considering its wide host range in Europe, rustrela virus should be considered as a cause for neurologic diseases among mammal species in North America.
On May 12, 2023, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (Denver, CO, USA) received a report of an ≈1-year-old free-ranging female mountain lion (Puma concolor) with signs of severe hind leg ataxia and paresis. The lion had been observed in a residential area of Douglas County, Colorado, USA ( https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/8/24-0411-app1.pdf - Appendix https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/8/24-0411-f1 - Figure 1 ). The animal was reluctant to rise and had markedly decreased capacity to move or bear weight on the hind end.
The animal moved by pulling itself forward with the front legs, while minimally propelling itself forward with the hind legs ( https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/8/24-0411-vid1 - Video ). The animal appeared depressed but was still responsive to stimuli. Wildlife officers tranquilized the animal and then euthanized it by gunshot to the chest to prevent destruction of neurologic tissues. We conducted a postmortem investigation including necropsy, histopathology, immunohistochemistry, molecular diagnostics, and metatranscriptome sequencing to investigate potential causes of the disease.
DJ...
Replies: Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: 18 Jul 2024 at 9:57pm
There are 5 known infected workers from the H5N1 poultry outbreak in Colorado, and they were all symptomatic.
Of the >1,000 poultry outbreaks in the last few years, this is the first case I know of where the exposed humans are symptomatic.
It's starting.
https://t.co/21zX1lugbE -
Update on https://x.com/hashtag/H5N1?src=hashtag_click - #H5N1 https://x.com/hashtag/birdflu?src=hashtag_click - #birdflu in cows: https://x.com/hashtag/USDA?src=hashtag_click - #USDA reported 3 more infected herds in Colorado, taking that state to 43. Minnesota reported a 9th herd; not yet added to the USDA list. The cumulative national total is 165 in 13 states. https://t.co/2BioBG14K4 -
Or does Colorado do better in testing-so detect more cases...could be telling other US states/North America has a far bigger problem ?
Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: 18 Jul 2024 at 10:15pm
https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/united-states/h5n1-tracking-af/colorado/980695-colorado-2023-2024-avian-flu-in-poultry?view=stream - https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/united-states/h5n1-tracking-af/colorado/980695-colorado-2023-2024-avian-flu-in-poultry?view=stream or https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/united-states/h5n1-tracking-af/colorado/980695-colorado-2023-2024-avian-flu-in-poultry?view=stream ;
Nearly 2 million head of poultry depopulated due to HPAI, all eyes on ag biosecurity
News NEWS | Jul 12, 2024 Rachel Gabel
The most recent report of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has resulted in the depopulation of 1.8 million head of poultry at a commercial table egg facility in Weld County, Colorado. Colorado State Veterinarian Dr. Maggie Baldwin said the state’s dairies and poultry facilities have cooperated with her office diligently to reduce the spread of HPAI.
Baldwin said the monitoring, testing and reporting of HPAI in Colorado is a result of the cooperation between producers and partners, including the State Veterinarian’s office and is important to reduce the spread between dairies and poultry facilities.
“Do I think Colorado has the most cases in the nation? No. Do I think Colorado has the most reported cases in the nation? Yes. Absolutely,” Baldwin said. ... Baldwin said in the past two years, she has seen spillover of HPAI from wild birds into poultry facilities but the dairy event is completely separate and not carried and shed by wild birds. The initial introduction into dairies was one single spillover event by wild birds into dairy farms.
“All of the subsequent spread of this disease has been direct and indirect contact from dairy farm to dairy farm,” she said. “Now, the risk we have is much greater for our poultry industry because we have a virus that is spreading from mammal to mammal, from cow to cow, from dairy to dairy and now we have so much of it in the northeast part of the state that it is posing a significant risk to our poultry farms.”
DJ, One may be able to replace milk-products. Eggs also are used for vaccine production.
We may have to rethink a food strategy.
-Animal diseases
-Extreme weather
both are a growing risk for food.
Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: 19 Jul 2024 at 9:34pm
https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/united-states/h5n1-tracking-af/colorado/993492-colorado-state-health-officials-confirm-6-cases-of-avian-flu-in-colorado-poultry-workers-july-12/page2#post993970 - https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/united-states/h5n1-tracking-af/colorado/993492-colorado-state-health-officials-confirm-6-cases-of-avian-flu-in-colorado-poultry-workers-july-12/page2#post993970 or https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/united-states/h5n1-tracking-af/colorado/993492-colorado-state-health-officials-confirm-6-cases-of-avian-flu-in-colorado-poultry-workers-july-12/page2#post993970 latest;
CDC A(H5N1) Bird Flu Response Update, July 19, 2024 ... Finally, we confirm in today’s Spotlight two additional cases of avian influenza in Colorado poultry farm workers. There was a recent poultry outbreak on the farm with human cases that were exposed to the virus related to a culling of birds, and we have confirmed H5N1 infection in six poultry workers from that event. The infected workers have all experienced mild symptoms, and workers exposed to the virus have been offered antiviral medication. ... Since April 2024, 10 human cases of avian influenza A(H5) infection have been reported in the United States. Four of these cases were associated with exposure to sick dairy cows and six were associated with exposure to H5N1-infected poultry.* [ https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/spotlights/h5n1-response-07192024.html#cdcfootnote_1 - A ][ https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/spotlights/h5n1-response-07192024.html#cdcfootnote_2 - B ] This includes two additional cases in Colorado that were confirmed by CDC this week and not previously reported.
The two new cases were in poultry workers with exposure to infected poultry during depopulation and disposal activities. Similar to previous cases, illness was mild. Based on the information available at this time, CDC’s current H5N1 bird flu human health risk assessment for the U.S. general public remains low.
DJ, So again...is Colorado that hard hit or simply testing enough ?
https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/united-states/h5n1-tracking-af/colorado/968376-colorado-bird-flu-in-mammals-and-livestock-2023-2024?view=stream - https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/united-states/h5n1-tracking-af/colorado/968376-colorado-bird-flu-in-mammals-and-livestock-2023-2024?view=stream or https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/united-states/h5n1-tracking-af/colorado/968376-colorado-bird-flu-in-mammals-and-livestock-2023-2024?view=stream latest;
Colorado has skipped from #43 to #45 so I guess that is 2 more herds, i.e #44 and #45 (#43 we already have denoted above).
DJ, Is the virus or the testing more "agressive"?
Posted By: Dutch Josh
Date Posted: 11 Aug 2024 at 10:08am
https://afludiary.blogspot.com/2024/08/colorado-cmva-statement-on-influenza.html - https://afludiary.blogspot.com/2024/08/colorado-cmva-statement-on-influenza.html or https://afludiary.blogspot.com/2024/08/colorado-cmva-statement-on-influenza.html ;
Details on where, and under what circumstances, many of these infected animals were detected remain disappointingly sparse. On Friday, however, the https://www.colovma.org/ - Colorado Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) published https://www.colovma.org/cvma-news/influenza-a-highly-pathogenic-avian-influenza-h5n1-in-domestic-cats/ - a brief reporton 6 domestic cats infected with the virus in their state in 2024.
Highlights include:
Only 1 of the 6 were directly linked to a dairy farm
Two of the 6 were indoor only cats, with no known exposures to the virus
Three of the 6 were indoor/outdoor cats, which may have hunted mice and/or small birds
Five of the 6 presented with respiratory symptoms and neurological impairment
https://www.colovma.org/cvma-news/influenza-a-highly-pathogenic-avian-influenza-h5n1-in-domestic-cats/ - The CVMA cautions that `HPAI H5N1 infection should be considered in domestic felines even if all of the risk factors or clinical signs are not present', and that there is a `high abundance' of the virus in the environment right now.
We've seen fairly stringent recommendations from the CDC on the precautions that veterinarians should be taking when working with potentially infected animals (see https://afludiary.blogspot.com/2024/04/cdc-guidance-for-veterinarians.html - CDC Guidance for Veterinarians: Evaluating & Handling Cats Potentially Exposed to HPAI H5N1 ).
And while the risk of a pet owner being infected by their cat (or dog) is considered low, it is not zero.
DJ, unclear spread into these Colorado cats...It may signal lots of (mammal) H5N1 cases may be missed...Virus spread via shoes ?