By Lisa Schnirring
An H5 avian flu case that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently added to its probable list was initially flagged by routine flu surveillance.
In other developments, federal officials confirmed more H5N1 detections in diary cows, poultry flocks, and a few non-farm mammals, and Labcorp announced the launch of its molecular test for the virus in people.
Exposure unknown in Delaware's probable case
Tim Mastro, deputy director of communications with Delaware Health and Social Services, said in an email that the state's Division of Public Health identified a possible case of novel H5 during routine surveillance at the state public health lab, which immediately contacted the CDC for confirmation testing and guidance.
After multiple tests on the sample, the CDC notified Delaware health officials that it couldn't confirm the novel influenza A in the case.
The CDC had said a few days ago that the infection meets the case definition for a probable case and that there is no defined exposure. The CDC has now reported seven probable cases. The six others involve people who had exposure to cows or poultry. The number of lab-confirmed infections since the start of the year remains at 60, which includes 2 with unknown exposure.
More confirmations in cows, poultry, other mammals
In other developments, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) confirmed 7 more outbreaks in dairy cattle, all in California, raising the state's total to 645 and the national total to 860 across 16 states.
APHIS also added two more confirmations in poultry flocks, the one it recently noted in Louisiana backyard birds and an outbreak at a commercial turkey breeder hen facility in Barron County, Wisconsin.
Also, APHIS confirmed five more H5N1 detections in mammals, all with sample collection dates between the end of October and the first week of December. They include a house mouse and a domestic cat from Utah's Cache County, where outbreaks in dairy cattle and an egg-laying farm were reported earlier this fall. The detections also include two mountain lions, one in Arizona and the other in Washington, and a domestic cat in California's San Bernardino County.
Labcorp launches H5 test
Labcorp today announced that its H5 avian flu molecular test is now available for doctors to order, and it can be used to assess potential human exposure. The company said it developed the test with support from the CDC to expand access and testing capacity amid the ongoing outbreaks in dairy cattle and poultry, linked to a growing number of human cases, some with unknown exposure.
Testing with the Labcorp test requires collection of a nasopharyngeal sample that is sent to Labcorp for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing. The result is reported back to the doctor and patient.
Source : umn.edu