What happened
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Wednesday that a second type of H5N1 bird flu had infected U.S. dairy herds, suggesting that cattle are more susceptible to the avian virus than previously believed and putting dairy workers at greater risk.
Who said what
The new H5N1 version, known as D1.1, was found in dairy cattle in Nevada and is different than the B3.13 type that has spread to more than 950 herds in 16 states over the past year, starting in Texas. The D1.1 infection was discovered by testing raw milk under a USDA dairy surveillance project launched last year.
"I always thought one bird-to-cow transmission was a very rare event," said Richard Webby, an influenza expert at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, said to The New York Times. That it happened twice is "a little bit of a 'wow' to me." Most of the 67 people diagnosed with bird flu in the U.S. had mild symptoms and had worked with dairy or cattle, but the one known death was an elderly man infected with D1.1 after contact with wild and backyard birds.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What next?
"There does not appear to be an immediate change to human risk," already considered low for the general public, The Washington Post said. But it's important for federal officials to be vigilant and transparent about a virus that could "make Covid seem like a walk in the park," said Michael Worobey, a University of Arizona evolutionary biologist.
-
Is this the end of ultraprocessed foods?Today's Big Question California law, MAHA movement on the same track
-
Are inflatable costumes and naked bike rides helping or hurting ICE protests?Talking Points Trump administration efforts to portray Portland and Chicago as dystopian war zones have been met with dancing frogs, bare butts and a growing movement to mock MAGA doomsaying
-
Gaza’s reconstruction: the steps to rebuildingEven the initial rubble clearing in Gaza is likely to be fraught with difficulty and very slow
-
Climate change is getting under our skinUnder the radar Skin conditions are worsening because of warming temperatures
-
Bluetoothing: the phenomenon driving HIV spike in FijiUnder the Radar ‘Blood-swapping’ between drug users fuelling growing health crisis on Pacific island
-
FDA OKs generic abortion pill, riling the rightSpeed Read The drug in question is a generic version of mifepristone, used to carry out two-thirds of US abortions
-
The new Stratus Covid strain – and why it’s on the riseThe Explainer ‘No evidence’ new variant is more dangerous or that vaccines won’t work against it, say UK health experts
-
‘Nightmare bacteria’ are rapidly spreadingUnder the radar The infections are largely resistant to antibiotics
-
Kissing bug disease has a growing presence in the USThe explainer The disease has yielded a steady stream of cases in the last 10 years
-
Climate change is making us eat more sugarUnder the radar Sweets make the heat feel more manageable
-
Trump makes unmoored claims on Tylenol and autismSpeed Read No causal relationship has been established between autism and acetaminophen use during pregnancy
