The FDA is preparing for a human bird flu pandemic that could kill one in four of those infected, the agency’s top official revealed.
Dr. Robert Califf, its commissioner, told a Senate committee yesterday that officials were already drawing up plans to quickly roll out tests, antivirals and vaccines in case the disease jumps to humans.
But he stressed that the risk of it spreading to people is low: Only two human cases have been detected in the United States so far, including a farmer in Texas this year. There were no signs of the virus passing from one person to another.
“This virus, like all viruses, is mutating,” he told policymakers. “We need to continue to prepare for the possibility that it could reach humans.”
“(The) real concern is that it jumps into the human lungs where, when that has happened in other parts of the world… the mortality rate has been 25 percent.”
FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf, pictured speaking before the Senate Agriculture Committee on Wednesday.
The graph above shows dairy herds that tested positive for bird flu over time. Authorities fear this will bring the virus one step closer to infecting humans.
The map above shows states that have reported avian flu infections in dairy herds.
Bird flu already appears to be somewhat widespread among livestock, raising concerns that it could be another step toward contagion to humans.
Fragments of the virus have already been detected in products such as one in five supermarket milks, as well as cottage cheese and sour cream.
But officials say they are still safe to consume because the virus inside them was effectively “dead.”
They found that when injected into a fertilized chicken egg, the virus did not begin to divide or kill cells, showing that it no longer posed an infection risk. All products had been pasteurized, or heated and cooled rapidly, to kill microbes.
Dr. Califf, speaking before the Agriculture Committee, added: “We We have to do testing, we have to have antivirals and we need to have a vaccine ready to use.
“We have been busy preparing for the event that the virus mutates in a way that allows it to jump to humans at a higher level.”
In the current outbreak, the FDA has spearheaded testing to ensure that dairy products remain safe to consume.
He initially suggested that pasteurization would make them safe, and has now collected test data to back up those claims, after accusations of a lack of transparency from sections of the scientific community.
A tick indicates foods that tested positive for bird flu, while a cross indicates those that were tested for bird flu but were not found to contain the virus.
Separate testing by the USDA has also suggested that beef is safe, after 30 ground beef products that were tested were not found to contain fragments of the virus.
Defending the US position, Dr Califf added: ‘We are in an enviable position compared to any other time in world history.
“Viruses are relatively simple, so finding a compatible vaccine is entirely possible in a short period of time.”
The United States already has a stockpile of about 20 million bird flu vaccines in its national arsenal, officials say, which are “well compatible” with the H5N1 virus. It also has the capacity to quickly earn 100 million more if necessary, they add.
Supplies of antivirals such as oseltamivir, used to treat the latest bird flu patient, are also available, although authorities have not provided a quantity.
Similarly, work is underway to develop an avian flu vaccine for poultry, and there is evidence to show that human antivirals work just as well in sick cows.
To date, only two humans in the U.S. have tested positive for bird flu, and both were in close contact with animals infected with the virus.
There have been no signs in any of the cases that the individuals transmitted the disease to others.
So far, a total of 36 farms in nine states have detected the virus among their dairy herds.
It comes after CDC officials reaffirmed their warning that bird flu had “pandemic potential” in a new report.
In an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, they made the warning in a section about rolling out vaccines if the virus spreads to humans.
Also last week, a separate U.S. Department of Agriculture study released genetic data showing that the H5N1 strain sweeping dairy farms had acquired dozens of new mutations.
These changes could make the strain more likely to spread from cows to other animals, including people, and make the virus resistant to antivirals.
