The Indiana State Truthful is exhibiting prize dairy cows, amid the specter of chicken flu that has been detected in cattle from 13 states.
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
We’re smack-dab in the midst of state honest season, and this 12 months, well being consultants are nervous that chicken flu might unfold. From the Indiana State Truthful, here is Aspect Results Public Media’s Ben Thorp.
BEN THORP, BYLINE: State gala’s are identified for issues like Ferris wheels, corn canine, sculptures made solely from butter and the most important pig within the state.
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THORP: State gala’s additionally deliver people and animals from farms throughout the state into shut contact, the place it is simpler to unfold illness. That is a selected concern this 12 months. Chicken flu infections have been confirmed in dairy cows in 13 states. The virus has even given some dairy employees delicate infections.
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THORP: However not everybody appears to learn about that. Mel Ventimiglia stands in entrance of a number of cows along with his grandkids inside the cattle barn on the Indiana State Truthful in Indianapolis. He says chicken flu is not even on his radar.
MEL VENTIMIGLIA: I have never heard it – anyone point out it apart from you.
THORP: Yeah.
VENTIMIGLIA: And hopefully I will neglect it fairly shortly.
THORP: (Laughter).
Cattle farmer Randy Mason says he follows primary precautions to maintain his cattle from getting sick whereas on the honest, however he is not notably nervous.
RANDY MASON: Plenty of that, I – for my part, will get overblown to some extent. They get one or two circumstances, after which it turns into – like every little thing the federal government does, it turns into overblown and out of proportion.
THORP: However scientists fear the virus might mutate from being a cow virus to being a human virus. At some state gala’s, officers have enacted stricter guidelines this 12 months to maintain the virus from spreading. In Minnesota, which has detected circumstances of chicken flu inside its dairy cattle, the state requires all cows to have a unfavourable chicken flu check earlier than they arrive to the state honest. That is not the case in different states, together with Indiana. Here is Bret Marsh. He is the Indiana state veterinarian.
BRET MARSH: Since we have not had a prognosis, we have not put these further measures in. States like Minnesota have had the prognosis in dairy herds of their state, in order that they’ve taken further measures.
THORP: The issue is, although, scientists broadly agree there may be not sufficient testing happening to completely perceive which states have cows contaminated with chicken flu.
AMESH ADALJA: The belief ought to be this virus is within the state of Indiana. We simply have not discovered it but.
THORP: That is Amesh Adalja, he is a senior scholar for the Johns Hopkins Middle for Well being Safety. He says states like Indiana have no optimistic circumstances as a result of they don’t seem to be in search of them.
ADALJA: That is what they need to be messaging – not our cows are free. That is silly to imagine.
THORP: Regardless of these considerations, some consultants say that is not a cause to overlook out on the state honest. Here is Andrew Bowman.
ANDREW BOWMAN: I am nonetheless going to the honest. Household’s nonetheless going to the honest. Shoot, I had a milkshake once I was there.
THORP: Bowman is a professor of veterinary preventative medication at The Ohio State College. He says at-risk populations, such because the immunocompromised, ought to think about avoiding the cattle barn this 12 months.
BOWMAN: You recognize, train warning and actually form of take into consideration which contacts they should have. And might I benefit from the animal reveals possibly from somewhat additional distance and never get proper in the midst of it?
THORP: The Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention have issued recommendation for state gala’s to reduce the dangers of chicken flu spreading. As an illustration, farmers should not dump uncooked milk on the bottom, and cows from totally different herds ought to be stored aside. However, they are saying, the danger to people from the chicken flu virus stays low.
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THORP: So wash your palms after visiting the cattle barn, however do not let that cease you from using the Ferris wheel or consuming a deep-fried Oreo – or a butter stick in the event you’re into that. For NPR Information, I am Ben Thorp in Indianapolis.
SUMMERS: That story is from NPR’s reporting partnership with Aspect Results Public Media and KFF Well being Information.
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