Vermont Health Commissioner Mark Levine told lawmakers Tuesday that the risk of avian flu in the general public is overall low, although farm workers may be at higher risk of contracting the condition.
At a joint hearing of the House health care and agriculture committees Tuesday afternoon, Levine told legislators the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “continues to list avian influenza as a low-risk proposition for humans and the general public.”
“Though if you’re a human who happens to work on a farm or works in a poultry capacity, your risk is higher than low,” he added. “But it’s still not necessarily super high.”
The hearing comes amid rising anxiety over a possible severe avian flu outbreak in a nation still traumatized by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Avian flu, also known as H5N1, has been spreading in wild and domestic birds and mammals over the past two years, Levine said. The virus is particularly deadly in bird populations, Levine said, but is less so in mammals. The virus has been detected in herds of dairy cattle in multiple states — most frequently in California — but so far none in New England, Levine said.
In Vermont, H5N1 has been detected in 100 wild birds, five backyard bird flocks — one in Franklin County and one in Windsor County — and one bobcat.
In the U.S., fewer than 70 people have been confirmed to have been infected with H5N1, and only one — a patient in Louisiana with underlying health conditions — has died. Almost all have had “mild cases,” Levine said, and most have been workers in the dairy industry.
No transmission between humans has been detected, Levine said, and no Vermont residents are known to have contracted the virus, he said.
Even so, Vermont is taking steps to monitor and protect residents against the virus.
The state Department of Health and Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets have offered protective equipment to farmworkers. The agriculture agency is testing milk from dairy farms every month and monitoring when cows are moved across state lines.
If the virus is detected at a farm, the health department will conduct testing, contact tracing and will monitor workers for symptoms. Health department officials are also monitoring flu patients in hospitals, and over the summer, the department conducted tabletop exercises simulating an outbreak on a farm.
At the hearing — which was paused once for a round of applause for Levine, who is retiring at the end of next month — the health commissioner urged Vermonters who work with livestock to practice caution.
Residents should wash their hands after contact with animals or animal products, wear boot covers or clean their boots to avoid bringing the virus indoors, and cover their eyes and mouth while spending time around livestock, said Levine, a medical doctor.
Lawmakers still expressed concern at the possibility of a larger outbreak. Rep. Brian Cina, P/D-Burlington, asked whether wide-ranging cuts at the federal government under the Trump administration could hinder the country’s ability to weather another pandemic.
“What is the impact of federal policy and funding changes to the CDC and (National Institutes of Health) on the nation’s ability to respond to a flu pandemic or a covid pandemic resurgence?” Cina asked.
Levine acknowledged the question was a difficult one. For the moment, though, the CDC has been left largely unchanged, he said, although a federal secretary of health and human services has yet to be confirmed.
Either way, health officials in Vermont are keeping an eye out for what Levine called the “nightmare scenario,” in which an individual contracts both avian flu and the standard flu, and the viruses exchange genetic material and mutate to become transmissible between people.
“You can call it science fiction or science, but it is something that is potential,” he said. “But we have not seen it at this point.”
Read the story on VTDigger here: Health commissioner tells lawmakers risk of avian flu to general public is ‘low’.