Dr. Leana Wen said Sunday that the lack of testing for bird flu doesn’t mean the virus isn’t alive in humans and that the federal government should “take lessons from the coronavirus.” He said that he felt that there was a need for active testing. The tests available to Americans do not require waiting for labs to characterize cases and their severity.
“I think we should have learned from the coronavirus that just because we’re not testing doesn’t mean the virus isn’t there,” said Dr. Liana Wen.on “Face the Nation” with former Baltimore Health Commissioner Margaret Brennan.. ”
“We want all farmworkers, their families, and the clinicians caring for them to know whether they have avian influenza or not, so they don’t have to wait for a public laboratory or a CDC laboratory to tell them if they have avian influenza. “There should be rapid tests available and home tests available,” she added.
The recent outbreak of avian influenza has been caused by mutations in the H5N1 virus that make it more contagious to humans compared to past viral mutations that targeted birds rather than mammals.
On Thursday, the CDC reported the first severe case of bird flu detected in the United States. A patient in Louisiana was infected from a backyard poultry flock. The Louisiana case was first confirmed by health officials on Friday and adds to the total of 61 human cases of H5 avian influenza reported in the United States. Another severe case of H5N1 has been reported in a teenage boy in British Columbia.
CBS News
The mutations found in humans likely arose as the virus adapted to its host, the CDC said. Genetic changes in H5N1 samples taken from infected humans were not present in samples taken from the patient’s infected backyard poultry flock, indicating that the mutations of concern did not emerge until after the virus had spread. It suggests that. Federal health officials said in a report that if these changes occur during the clinical course of human infection, the infection is more likely to spread among close contacts.
“It’s a person who is seriously ill. But that’s not all. Researchers isolated the virus from this person who was sick in Louisiana. And they believe that this particular strain of the virus may be spreading to other people. We found that the virus appears to have acquired a mutation that makes it more likely to bind to the virus due to a lack of airway receptors,” Wen said on Sunday, adding that the mutation makes it possible for people to get both avian influenza and seasonal influenza at the same time. He added that it is possible.
Wen added that he believes the number of H5N1 infections currently reported in the United States is likely an undercount due to a lack of testing.
“All 50 states have outbreaks in poultry, and 16 states have outbreaks in cattle. In California, more than 300 herds have tested positive in the past 30 days, and there are currently 66 cases. “Bird influenza is infecting humans. We haven’t done nearly enough testing, so this is almost certainly a huge underestimate,” Wen said.
Wen on Sunday also urged the Biden administration to approve the H5N1 vaccine. The vaccine has already been developed and is under contract with manufacturers to produce about 5 million doses, but it is awaiting FDA approval. This is a big difference from the early stages of the new coronavirus.
“Studies are being conducted. It will be approved now and we will be able to distribute the vaccine to farm workers and vulnerable people,” Wen said. “I think that’s the right approach, because we don’t know what the Trump administration is going to do about bird flu. If there are people coming in with an anti-vaccination stance, I think it’s a good idea to withhold authorization of the vaccine. If not, I don’t want to know how common bird flu is, but can I withhold testing? That being said, there is a possibility. ”
The push for immediate vaccine authorization and additional testing is rooted in concerns that the Trump administration could delay vaccinations.
“We don’t want to wait for the possibility that the Trump administration will hold back vaccinations because it wants more evidence,” Wen said. “Look, evidence is always good, facts are always good. New research is always good. But you also have to weigh it against the potential catastrophe, as we did with bird flu. , as is the case with the coronavirus.”
Wen said some of President-elect Trump’s cabinet members, including Dr. Marty McCulley, who will lead the FDA, are “very capable” and “very willing to listen to the science and change their minds when something new comes up.” “He’s an independent thinker who doesn’t shy away from anything.” Evidence that becomes clear. ”But there are further concerns regarding Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Controversial selection of health and human affairs secretary The person who spread misinformation about vaccines and autism.
“I have spoken with colleagues in medicine and public health, and I think we all share this concern, especially regarding Robert F. Kennedy, the candidate for Health and Human Services,” Wen said. . “President Kennedy has supported many anti-vaccine views in the past. In fact, he has been one of the leading anti-vaccine advocates in the country, if not the world, for the past several decades.”
