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Avian influenza outbreaks among poultry flocks in Michigan and Texas are in the news. Closer to home, the most recent bird flu outbreak in Nevada occurred in 2022 in Nye County. The Southern Nevada Health District says it stands ready to act if an outbreak is reported in Clark County.
Thursday, April 18, 2024 | 2 a.m.
The Southern Nevada Health District isn’t raising any red flags after cases of avian influenza were recently reported affecting commercial poultry and wild birds in two states, but it has a plan in place should the virus make its way to Clark County.
“SNHD closely monitors detection of avian flu and other viruses detected in nearby states, in the nation and globally,” the health district said in an email to the Sun. “Response to outbreaks and to cases of unusual pathogens causing rare disease is already in place at SNHD.”
There are many different subtypes of avian influenza A — also referred to as bird flu — categorized based on the protein at the virus’s surface as well as the virus’s ability to cause disease and mortality.
Sweeping the globe and affecting various animals from pigeons to seals in recent years is highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), which causes severe disease and high mortality in infected poultry, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Since 1997, the H5N1 strain of HPAI A infecting humans has been reported in 23 countries, causing severe pneumonia and death in roughly 50% of cases. The World Health Organization said symptoms of H5N1 in humans can include fever, cough, sore throat, muscle aches, chest or abdominal pain and diarrhea.
Avian flu in humans remains rare but it can rapidly develop into severe respiratory illnesses and neurologic changes such as seizures, the agency noted.
A poultry facility in Michigan, an egg producer in Texas and a number of dairies reported outbreaks of avian flu in late March and early April, according to the CDC.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has recorded at least one herd of dairy cattle in six states that had tested positive for H5N1 virus: Idaho, New Mexico, Texas, Kansas, Michigan and Ohio. The most recent infections were confirmed April 6 in New Mexico, a USDA map shows.
The CDC alerted the public this month that a person in Texas who was exposed to infected dairy cattle had tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus after experiencing eye redness and was receiving treatment. It’s just the second documented case of bird flu in a human since 2022 in the U.S.; the first case was reported in Colorado two years ago.
“This infection does not change the H5N1 bird flu human health risk assessment for the U.S. general public, which CDC considers to be low,” the CDC said in a news release. “Human infections with avian influenza A viruses, including A(H5N1) viruses, are uncommon but have occurred sporadically worldwide.”
Three avian flu outbreaks have been recorded in Nevada since 2022, according to the CDC.
The first was July 7, 2022, in Carson City, where a flock of 40 nonpoultry birds were killed, and the second appeared in Nye County later that fall. The latter outbreak, which was identified Oct. 17, led to the culling of 1,600 poultry.
The most recent avian flu outbreak had been found in Douglas County last March in a nonpoultry flock of 20 birds.
Following the positive H5N1 infection in the Texas dairy worker, the CDC released a health advisory alert recommending clinicians consider the possibility of H5N1 infection in people who have had contact with potentially infected animals and show signs of coughs, eye redness or discharge, shortness of breath.
The CDC encouraged state health departments to investigate potential human cases of H5N1 virus and notify the CDC within 24 hours of identifying a case under investigation.
The SNHD said it has the ability to test for human cases of avian flu and would work closely with the state’s health department on any response to identified human cases.
“We have a team that addresses any reports of acute communicable diseases and works closely with the state health department on the response,” the health district wrote in an email to the Sun. “Our Southern Nevada Public Health Laboratory also has the capacity to test human cases for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza.”
Southern Nevada’s human residents aren’t the only population that could be affected.
Jamie Nevarez, wildlife curator at the Flamingo’s Wildlife Habitat, said they’re not worried but still keeping an eye on their flamingos, brown pelicans and exotic birds, as well as any local ones that drop in.
In 2022, keepers pulled the birds off exhibit for safety reasons after the nonpoultry flocks were found with avian influenza.
Should another case be found in or near Southern Nevada, Nevarez said they’re ready to take the birds out of the public eye once more and isolate them to reduce the risk of any catching the deadly virus.
“Other than that, we just kind of wait, we don’t worry about it until it gets here so we go by the state (veterinarian) and the Nevada Department of Wildlife and their recommendations for what’s going on,” Nevarez said. “So far, we are in the clear.”
The health district said people who have job-related or recreational exposures to infected birds or other animals were at a higher risk of infection.
Everyone can take some precautions to reduce their risk of contracting avian influenza, including wearing respiratory or eye protection when handling sick or dead animals as well as animal feces, litter or materials contaminated by birds or other animals with suspected or confirmed H5N1 virus infection.
The health district also recommends people avoid preparing or eating uncooked or undercooked food and food products such as unpasteurized milk or raw cheeses from animals with suspected or confirmed bird flu infections.
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