by Brenda Baletti, Ph.D., Childrens Health Defense:
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday declared a state of emergency for bird flu after cases were detected in dairy cows. Critics of Newsom’s declaration said it’s unnecessary and could lead to granting the state “the authority to forcibly enter farms, test their animals, and mandate mass culling at their discretion.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday declared a state of emergency for H5N1 avian influenza, commonly known as “bird flu.”
The declaration came after cases were detected in dairy cows on farms in Southern California, according to a press release. Newsom’s office said the cases showed the need to ramp up monitoring and mitigation to stop the spread of the virus.
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“This proclamation is a targeted action to ensure government agencies have the resources and flexibility they need to respond quickly to this outbreak,” Newsom said. “While the risk to the public remains low, we will continue to take all necessary steps to prevent the spread of this virus,” he said.
As of Wednesday, there were no cases of person-to-person spread of bird flu in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). There also have been no human cases confirmed from consuming milk from an infected cow or eating eggs from an infected chicken, according to internist and bioweapons expert Dr. Meryl Nass.
“Gruesome Newsom had to get into the act, despite no serious cases in CA, and no one who has caught bird flu from milk,” Nass wrote in a Substack post where she provided a history of the disease. Bird flu has been present globally for at least 27 years without causing a major health crisis and has lost virulence over time, she said.
Newsom’s announcement raised concern among critics.
“This order grants significant authority to emergency officials and mandates compliance from residents,” epidemiologist Nicolas Hulscher wrote on the Courageous Discourse Substack. “This means the State will have the authority to forcibly enter farms, test their animals, and mandate mass culling at their discretion.”
“It’s coming in from multiple angles today,” Dr. William Makis wrote, referring to Newsom’s announcement and other bird flu headlines. “Looks like this could be the start,” he said, suggesting that public health authorities could announce another pandemic.
Emergency Declaration comes on heels of other recent bird flu developments
Newsom’s announcement comes on the heels of the CDC announcement earlier the same day that the first person in the U.S. to develop severe bird flu illness was hospitalized in Louisiana. The agency said it confirmed the infection last week.
The CDC said the person “had exposure to sick and dead birds in backyard flocks” — which would mark the first case of bird flu from a backyard flock in the U.S. This version of the virus is different from the one found in cattle.
The infected person was over age 65 and had underlying medical conditions, according to ABC News.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services also announced Wednesday the state’s first presumptive case of bird flu, contracted by a poultry worker at a commercial farm in Barron County. Health authorities in Delaware also recently identified a probable case of bird flu through routine influenza surveillance, according to The Guardian.
Also on Wednesday, Los Angeles County health officials announced they are investigating a case of three cats presumed to have bird flu. Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released guidance on how to protect cats from bird flu after two cats may have died from the disease in Texas in March.
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