State on alert for possible H5N1 bird flu virus

BOSTON (State House News Service) – Cases of things like COVID-19 have “fallen dramatically in the past few weeks” as respiratory illness season winds down, but Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein is now closely monitoring the emergence of another disease-causing virus.

Massachusetts has seen no human or bovine cases of H5N1, a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus that has recently spread from wild birds to cows elsewhere in the country. Goldstein said the virus has been detected in one human and in dairy cows at more than 35 farms in nine states, and that Massachusetts is on alert for potential cases.

“I want to reiterate that the risk to humans remains very low. At this time, there’s been no evidence of increases in flu virus from wastewater in sites around the state where monitoring is occurring and DPH maintains flu surveillance year-round. We’re alert for possible increases and will continue laboratory testing to identify circulating flu types from positive samples,” he said during a Public Health Council meeting. The commissioner added, “Dairy farm owners in Massachusetts should report signs of illness in their cows promptly to the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources for testing.”

Though no infected cows have been identified in Massachusetts, Goldstein cautioned people against consuming uncooked food products — especially raw or unpasteurized milk — from animals with suspected or confirmed bird flu. He said the H5N1 virus is present in the milk from infected cows, but that federal authorities have confirmed that pasteurization kills the avian flu virus.

The Department of Public Health monitors the symptoms of people who have come into contact with animal cases of the bird flu, he said, noting that the “exposures to date have been associated with workers responding to an outbreak of the disease in birds.”

“Tamiflu is expected to be effective at treating the current avian influenza strain and there are no current supply constraints of this medication,” Goldstein said. “DPH is in close communication with animal health authorities in Massachusetts and will continue to follow these outbreaks very closely alongside CDC recommendations and guidance.”

The discussion was similar to ones the PHC has had over the last four years about COVID-19. But the coronavirus — and the new mutation that has virologists on the lookout for a possible summer wave of COVID-19 infections — was hardly mentioned during Wednesday’s meeting.

The KP.2 variant of COVID-19 has taken over as the dominant form of the virus, accounting for 28 percent of new cases as of early this month, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control . Dr. Andy Pekosz from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health said KP.2 and similar variants “would be high on my list of viruses that could cause another wave of infections in the U.S.”

There were 653 confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19 reported in Massachusetts from April 28 through May 4, the most recent week of data available. That’s down from 6,893 confirmed or probable cases the first week of 2024, according to DPH’s data dashboard .

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