Vincent Gaines, worked at a nursing home in CO & died of #Covid Jun '20.
There was "no evidence Gaines came into contact w/ anyone w/Covid."
But 40 people were pos(+) & an #Outbreak was registered.
"Would you have had to, like — genetic sequencing of the strain of COVID he died from?" asked Judge Matthew D. Grove. "What would have been sufficient in your view to show the decedent got the disease at work?"
#BirdFlu Cattle #Outbreak Feels Like 2020, Former Surgeon General Warns >>>
The cow-to-cow transmission is the latest escalation in a global outbreak that began when the #virus reemerged in Europe in '20. It has since killed tens of millions of birds and more than 40k sea lions.
#WHO called this an "animal pandemic" on April 18.
Genetic fragments of the virus, discovered in grocery store milk, suggest the outbreak is more widespread than officials believed.
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...unless said precautions no longer make the leaders and their cronies money...
... unless said precautions endanger the economy...
... unless said precautions let very very expensive office buildings sit vacant...
Avian flu is different though.
"People should avoid unprotected (not using respiratory or eye protection) exposures to sick or dead animals including wild birds, poultry, other domesticated birds...
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...Personal protective equipment (PPE) should be worn when in direct or close contact (within about six feet) with sick or dead animals...
People exposed to HPAI A(H5N1)-virus infected birds or other animals (including people wearing recommended PPE) should monitor themselves for new respiratory illness symptoms, including conjunctivitis (eye redness), beginning after their first exposure and for 10 days after their last exposure...
...Influenza antiviral post-exposure prophylaxis may be considered to prevent infection, particularly in those who had unprotected exposure to HPAI A(H5N1)-virus infected birds or other animals...
Persons who develop any illness symptoms after exposure to HPAI A(H5N1) virus infected birds or other animals should seek prompt medical evaluation for possible influenza testing and antiviral treatment by their clinician or public health department...
4/
Symptomatic persons should isolate away from others, including household members, except for seeking medical evaluation until it is determined that they do not have HPAI A(H5N1) virus infection.
(What is this isolation they speak of??)
To reduce the risk of HPAI A(H5N1) virus infection, poultry farmers and poultry workers, backyard bird flock owners, livestock farmers and workers, veterinarians and veterinary staff, and responders should...
5/
...should avoid unprotected direct physical contact or close exposure with sick or dead birds or other animals, carcasses, feces, milk, or litter from sick birds or other animals potentially infected or confirmed to be infected with HPAI A(H5N1) virus.
Farmers, workers, and responders should wear recommended PPE such as an N95 filtering facepiece respirator, eye protection, and gloves, and perform thorough hand washing after contact...
6/
...when in direct contact with sick or dead birds or other animals, carcasses, feces, or litter from potentially infected birds or other animals, and when going into any buildings with or that have had sick or dead birds or other animals, carcasses, feces, or litter from potentially infected birds or other animals.
Workers should receive training on and demonstrate an understanding of when to use PPE; what PPE is necessary; how to properly...
7/
...put on, use, take off, dispose of, and maintain PPE; and PPE limitations. Employers subject to ...OSHA regulations should comply with applicable standards as highlighted on the OSHA Avian Influenza – Standards page.
Clinicians should consider the possibility of HPAI A(H5N1) virus infection in persons showing signs or symptoms of acute respiratory illness who have relevant exposure history.
...public health department to arrange testing for influenza A(H5N1) virus, collect recommended respiratory specimens (see below) using PPE, consider starting empiric antiviral treatment (see below), and encourage the patient to isolate at home away from their household members and not go to work or school until it is determined they do not have avian influenza A virus infection...
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...Testing for other potential causes of acute respiratory illness should also be considered depending upon the local epidemiology of circulating respiratory viruses, including SARS-CoV-2.
State health department officials should investigate potential human cases of HPAI A(H5N1) virus infection as described below and should notify CDC within 24 hours of identifying a case under investigation...
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...Rapid detection and characterization of novel influenza A viruses in humans remain critical components of national efforts to prevent further cases, to allow for evaluation of clinical illness associated with them, and to assess the ability of these viruses to spread from human to human. State Health Department officials, including the State Public Health Veterinarian, should collaborate with...
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...with State Department of Agriculture and State Wildlife officials using a One Health approach when relevant to investigate suspected HPAI A(H5N1) infections in people linked with animals.
People exposed to HPAI A(H5N1)-infected birds or other animals (including people wearing recommended PPE) should be monitored for signs and symptoms of acute respiratory illness beginning after their first exposure...
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(Gee I wonder if that's a typo and they mean 1 day 🤔 /snark)
Patients who meet Epidemiologic criteria AND either Clinical OR Public Health Response criteria below should be tested for HPAI A(H5N1) virus infection by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay using H5-specific primers and probes at your state or local public health department...
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Persons with recent exposure (within 10 days) to HPAI A(H5N1) virus through one of the following:
[all of the above]
Clinical Criteria
Persons with signs and symptoms consistent with acute upper or lower respiratory tract infection, or complications of acute respiratory illness without an identified cause. In addition, gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea are often reported with HPAI A(H5N1) virus infection...
...multi-organ failure (respiratory and kidney failure), sepsis, meningoencephalitis.
(So... Basically exposure to anyone who is sick, which is a fairly big number right now??)
Vaccination
No human vaccines for prevention of HPAI A(H5N1) virus infection are currently available in the United States. Seasonal influenza vaccines do not provide any protection against human infection with HPAI A(H5N1) viruses...
"The FDA’s top vaccine regulator said Monday that the U.S. maintains a stockpile of vaccines targeting avian flu.
“There are actually vaccines licensed in the United States for H5N1, and there are stockpiles where we believe that, if we needed to, they would be reasonably good matches,” Dr. Peter Marks said at the World Vaccine Congress in Washington."
With a dramatic jump in cases — and a strain of mpox that is deadlier than the virus that went global in 2022 — specialists are scrambling to reign it in.
Why the mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is worrying disease docs (www.npr.org)
With a dramatic jump in cases — and a strain of mpox that is deadlier than the virus that went global in 2022 — specialists are scrambling to reign it in.