(NEW YORK) — One year ago, the first bird flu infection in a human in the United States was reported in a Texas dairy worker, just weeks after the virus had been found in cattle for the first time ever.
While the virus has spread in birds for decades, in recent years it has started to infect more and more mammals including cows, bears and racoons — and even house cats are getting sick.
In the 12 months since the first human case, at least 70 people have been infected. There was one death linked to a human infected with bird flu in Louisiana.
ABC News’ medical correspondent Dr. Darien Sutton was granted rare access inside the race to stop bird flu at Michigan State University’s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. He aimed to better understand how researchers are trying to curb the spread in animals — and why that may help protect us from an outbreak among humans.
“We’re a network of more than 60 academic, state and federal laboratories that are the first line of defense in the case of a high consequence animal disease outbreak,” Dr. Kimberly Dodd, dean of the college of veterinary medicine at Michigan State University, told Sutton.
So far, the outbreak has had a devastating impact on animals with 168 million birds affected in every state. Since March of last year, nearly 1,000 cattle herds have been infected as well.
With rapid detection of cases, culling of infected birds and isolation of sick cows, there has not been a major outbreak in the last month.
But Dodd points out as springtime approaches, we may see increasing spread as wild birds begin to migrate.
“Birds don’t recognize the state borders. This is a national problem. We have to be able to work together,” Dodd said.
While most of the human cases in the U.S. have been mild, scientists like Dodd’s team continue to track the virus for any mutations that may change that risk.
“We are continually tracking not just the virus in animals, but then also monitoring [people] who may have been exposed to those infected animals and birds,” she said. “This allows us to have a better understanding if the risk to humans is changing or increasing.”
The risk to the general public has so far remained low, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Yet, health officials and experts have long warned that as the virus continues to spread in the environment, it leads to greater chances of mutating and potentially adapting to spread between people, which has not occurred yet.
The widespread nature of the virus has also devastated many farming communities and lead to skyrocketing egg prices in the last year.
Doug Corwin’s family run duck farm in Long Island, New York, was forced to euthanize 100,000 birds in late January after the virus was found on their property.
“It was devastating — disease, sickness, death, like I’ve never seen in my life,” Corwin told Sutton during a visit this week. “It was just an ugly, awful, sad time.”
Typically, Corwin’s farm sells around a million ducks a year that are served in high-end restaurants. Now, he’s left with no income for at least 18 months as he tries to salvage his remaining flock. He was also forced to lay off 45 of his employees.
“To try to explain to them why we weren’t going to be able to work tomorrow … was a tearful, hard thing,” Corwin said.
“I’ve never had a more tearful day. It was just a shocking, shocking experience,” he added.
ABC News’ medical correspondent Dr. Darien Sutton contributed to this report.
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