Officials say Missouri bird flu case is a “one off”

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – The CDC and health officials are still investigating how a person in Missouri got bird flu, after no known exposure to infected animals or dairy.

“Right now, evidence points to this being a one-off case,” CDC’s Principal Deputy Director Dr. Nirav Shah said.

Shah said epidemiologists have not yet found a clear source of the exposure. He described the case as a “needle in a haystack.”

“In this case, we found such a needle, but we don’t know how it got there,” Shah said.

The person in Missouri has since recovered.

Shah also announced five new commercial contracts with labs to develop tests, aimed at speeding up availability in case of outbreak.

“We’re doing what we should do on the front end rather than in the midst of a crisis,” Shah said.

The CDC says there’s no evidence of person-to-person transmission, and the risk to humans is low but the virus is infecting cows.

In recent weeks, eight herds in California have been infected. Three of them in the Central Valley, where Congressman and dairy farmer David Valadao represents.

“This is flu-like symptoms, so the cow drops in milk production, but no cows have died from it,” Valadao said.

Valadao has a bill to direct the USDA to prioritize research into bird flu and compensate dairy producers for loss of milk production because of infection.

“We want to make sure farmers have the tools they need to survive this. Protecting our food supply is a national security issue and it’s important to our communities,” Valadao said.

The CDC says there’s no safety concerns with pasteurized milk and dairy products.

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