Illinois officials prepare to respond to possible human bird flu cases as virus spreads in animals
CHICAGO (WLS) -- As a national outbreak of bird flu is expanding, health officials in Illinois are now preparing to respond to possible cases in humans.
The Centers for Disease Control is still emphasizing that the current health risk to people is low. But that could change quickly.
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From farm fields, to hospitals, to the lab, health experts are closely watching every case of the highly contagious bird flu.
Medical experts here in Illinois sat down with the I-Team to explain what they're doing to keep bird flu from becoming the next human pandemic.
As the virus spreads among animals, it is mutating. At least six herds of dairy cattle in Nevada are now sickened with a new strain.
On Monday, health officials in that state said the virus has spread to a worker exposed to infected cows.
Marikate and Marty Thomas know all too well the pain of H5N1 infecting a farm.
The couple own and run Kakadoodle, an egg farm and an on-line marketplace in Matteson. Their business offers healthy, chemical-free food from their free range hens and other locally-produced products.
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But they had been warned there was a strong possibility H5 could creep in.
"We were told that it was a matter of when and not if we were going to get the bird flu," said Marty Thomas.
And then it happened. In January, the nearly 3,000 hens became sick.
They suspect the chickens got bird flu from wild birds that had been eating out of the hens' feed.
And the couple says colleagues had another warning - to never get the U.S. Department of Agriculture involved.
Marikate said, "Somebody that I trust, and they told me not to get the USDA on our property."
She explained smaller farmers can go bankrupt if they are quarantined for months on end.
But the Thomas' couldn't stay silent. Marikate said, "We're not going to be able to put our heads on our pillows and rest unless we are being honest. We got to be the ones that say we got to be forthright here, otherwise, someone's going to make a mistake in thinking they've tamped it down and they haven't."
In a statement to the I-Team the USDA said, "APHIS confirmed highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in a commercial flock in the United States on February 8, 2022. Since then, we have worked cooperatively with States and producers identify and respond to detections and mitigate the virus' impact on U.S. poultry production and trade.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza is a deadly poultry disease that spreads quickly and can affect neighboring farms, devastating local poultry industries with little to no warning. It is critical that producers of every size report sick birds.
USDA works closely with state animal health officials to respond to cases of HPAI and get owners back in business is quickly as possible. USDA pays for birds and eggs that must be destroyed, not for birds that died from HPAI.
Because facilities will only be indemnified for live birds and HPAI spreads quickly and can be fatal to flocks, it is critical that owners report sick birds immediately and begin the indemnity process quickly if they have an infected flock."
Transparency and farm infection management could be key to helping keep people safe.
Dr. Mary Hayden, the director of infectious diseases at Rush University Medical Center said, "The more infection there is the more organisms there are the more you know they will mutate. It just increases the chance they are going to mutate to a form that would infect humans."
Right now, the virus is not spreading easily among people but some medical experts speaking with the I-Team said that could change rapidly.
In Chicago, hundreds of dead and dying waterfowl have wash up along Lake Michigan.
Last month, the virus killed a seal and flamingo at Lincoln Park Zoo, and a bald eagle in suburban Hinsdale.
"What concerns me, I guess, just that it's so widespread, there's so much of it in the United States," Hayden said.
Chicago-area infectious disease experts said their labs are on the lookout for potential cases and the CDC is urging hospitals to do additional testing on patients hospitalized with seasonal Influenza A.
Samples of Influenza A in humans that can't be easily subtyped are being sent to labs that can test for H5N1.
"I'm a little less frustrated now, but I have been frustrated throughout all of this. It didn't seem like we were doing enough surveillance testing. So, all of that has ramped up," said Dr. Sharon Welbel.
Welbel, chief of infectious diseases at Cook County Health, said her team started preparing for bird flu more than a year ago.
She said patients entering the hospital screened for flu-like symptoms are asked if they have been in close contact with birds, farm animals and raw products.
Surveillance and screening, she said, are lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.
She stated, "It's not inevitable that this will be a pandemic, but it can be. And so, we are preparing for it."
And an ABC7 data team analysis of USDA numbers found that more than 100,00 birds in backyard and commercial flocks have tested positive for avian flu in Illinois.
Nearly all of the human exposure is related to commercial agriculture including dairy herds, poultry farms, raw milk and raw meat. The virus can be killed off by proper cooking.
Keeping infections contained while also preparing for the possibility of widespread infection is a multi-agency process in Illinois.
Dr. Brian Borah, the medical director for vaccine-preventable diseases surveillance at the Chicago Department of Public Health, said, "We're not going to find cases unless we're looking."
Right now, bird flu is not spreading widely among people, as there are just 68 reported human infections nationwide, and one death.
But doctors are watching for trends, particularly in some of the sickest patients, during what's already been a busy flu season.
Borah added, "We want to know if a flu virus is making somebody so sick that they're landing in the ICU. We want to make sure it's not being caused by H5N1."
"It's something that I'm thinking about every day," explained the state's top doctor Sameer Vohra.
As the head of the Illinois Department of Public Health, Vohra told the I-Team Illinois is in constant conversations with statewide farm bureaus, local health departments and the CDC.
"We're fortunate at this moment that we haven't had any human transmission here, but we know where we have to go pretty immediately as that starts, I think our goal will be kind of mitigating that spread and honestly learning from states that have had to already go through certain cycles," Vohra said.
IDPH has been in daily contact with the Thomas family.
"Getting an email everyday asking us about our symptoms, if we have any symptoms fever, cough, runny nose. We've all been fine. We're just exhausted," said Marikate.
On their cell phones each day, they fill out a questionnaire to check if anyone in the family is exhibiting unusual symptoms, similar to what you would see with seasonal flu.
So, the Thomas family said their health is good, and they see no signs bird flu has spread past the chickens, which have now been killed and properly disposed.
Community support and other sales through their online market - are keeping them going as they are quarantined from having any chickens on the farm for four months.
"We definitely will get chickens again and we're hoping to be able to make this property beautiful and showcase what regenerative farming can look like," said Marikate.
Health officials are reiterating there are still no documented bird flu cases spread from human to human.
That is an important marker health officials will continue watching for.
And they are advising pet owners to keep dogs and cats away from any from any form of wildlife, dead or alive, from help keep animals healthy and keep the virus from creeping into your home.
