https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/22/bird-flu-virus-trump
Alarm as bird flu now 'endemic in cows' while Trump cuts staff and funding
Experts say current US outbreak is unlikely to end without intervention with further mutation of virus likely
Melody Schreiber
Sat 22 Feb 2025 08.00 EST
A newer variant of H5N1 bird flu has spilled over into dairy cows separately in Nevada and Arizona, prompting new theories about how the virus is spread and leading to questions about containing the ongoing outbreaks.
The news comes amid a purge of experts at federal agencies, including employees who were responding to the highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the US Department of Agriculture.
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"It's endemic in cows now. There is no way this is going to get contained" on its own, said Seema Lakdawala, an influenza virologist and co-director of the Center for Transmission of Airborne Pathogens at Emory School of Medicine.
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At the same time, the CDC's seasonal flu vaccination campaigns were halted on Thursday as the health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, a longtime anti-vaccine activist, reportedly called for "informed consent" advertisements instead. A meeting for the independent vaccine advisers was also postponed on Thursday.
The US has also halted communication with the World Health Organization on influenza data.
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