"But the virus is continuing to evolve and spill over to other species, fueling fears of human-to-human transmissions and a possible pandemic."
""It's happening pretty fast and doesn't seem to be slowing down and I'm really very unclear about what the U.S.'s approach is going to be," said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan."
""At USDA, the cupboard is pretty bare when it comes to human resources," said Keith Poulsen, director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory."
""Will they be able to communicate what they found? I don't know the answer, because it sure seems as if CDC ... [officials] don't seem to be in a communication phase in terms of letting scientists interpret what they're finding," Daskalakis said."
An avian influenza strain is evolving and spreading beyond birds into dairy cows, cats and other mammals across multiple states, increasing concern about potential human-to-human transmission and pandemic risk. Influenza has been detected in 62 commercial and backyard flocks across 17 states in the past month, affecting an estimated 6.6 million birds. Federal response capacity is constrained by staffing cuts at the CDC and USDA, immigration enforcement on farms, and the government shutdown, which has suspended coordination such as weekly animal health laboratory calls. Funding delays tied to a stalled farm bill further hamper resource availability. The CDC flu team can sequence human samples rapidly, but communication and interpretation of findings remain uncertain. The outbreak has already caused egg shortages and higher prices.
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