Bay Area counties ramp up outreach efforts after state-wide emergency over avian flu
On Dec. 18, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state-wide emergency over the avian flu outbreak which has thus far been limited to agricultural areas. But now counties across the Bay Area are ramping up outreach efforts to inform the general public about actions they can take to keep themselves safe and prevent the disease from becoming something much worse.
The H5N1 avian flu virus was first identified in China in 1996. Since then about 900 people worldwide have gotten the illness, of which about half have died. But it's not what the disease has done so far that has health officials worried. Rather, it's what it could become.
In the Bay Area, it began as a threat to birds in local wildlife hospitals. Shortly thereafter, North Bay poultry farms became infected, requiring the euthanasia of hundreds of thousands of birds. Then there were reports that it had passed into cows. But after dairy workers in other parts of the country began testing positive, it has now sparked a statewide effort to get ahead of the virus.
"Bird flu has been around for 30 years, but recently it has mutated," said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a UCSF infectious disease specialist. "From just staying in birds, it's gone now to affect 50 mammals, including humans."
Dr. Chin-Hong became a familiar face in the Bay Area during the COVID outbreak and he is now a leading voice in sounding the alarm over the avian flu. He said the virus is randomly mutating, seeking the genetic key to allow transmission within the human population, with the possibility of setting off another pandemic.
"I think it's going to happen, but the speed of which it happens I think we can control," he said. "It's kind of like a train that has already left the station. So, the way you slow it down is you put buffers on the rails, or you put a cushion or airbag at the end. And I think the state of emergency is trying to do those things."
That's why Marin County is speaking up as well. On Saturday, Deputy Public Health Officer Dr. Melanie Thompson said, so far, they've had no confirmed human infections, but they're partnering with Sonoma County—two areas with a lot of dairy farms—to spread the word about the potential threat.
"We run the potential of having another pandemic," Thompson said. "As we're learning more about the bird flu, we have to remain humble and pay attention and do what we can to protect people."
The first recommendation for the public is to get a normal flu vaccination. If someone should be exposed to both regular and avian flu at the same time, it could cause an exchange of DNA that has the potential to create an entirely new human-borne virus.
"They could combine and make a new virus, as we saw with COVID-19," Thompson said.
So, the county will be offering vaccinations and bird flu testing to agricultural workers in West Marin. Since the virus has passed mainly through exposure to infected milk, health officials are once again warning people not to consume products made with raw, unpasteurized milk.
"From a science perspective, we have seen that pasteurization has reduced the number of severe illnesses and death from known bacteria and known viruses," Thompson said.
While there is a small amount of H5N1 avian flu vaccine available now, county officials are saving that in case of an outbreak. Instead, they're focusing on getting people vaccinated for the regular flu to prevent the mixing of the viruses. Thompson said the number of people getting normal flu shots has dropped since the COVID pandemic ended.
As a result, the greatest threat may now come from people, those who refuse proven protections like vaccines and safe food processing. With the virus seeking a way into the human body, the danger may not just be that individuals could get sick but that they could unleash an entirely new plague upon all of us.