H5N1 BIRD FLU Today in bird flu: A new public dashboard, and STAT enters the black market for raw milk

My rendezvous with the raw milk black market: quick, easy, and unchecked by the FDA Nicholas Florko By Nicholas Florko May 15, 2024 https://www.statnews.com/2024/05/15/bird-flu-raw-milk-fda-loophole-lax-enforcement-interstate-ban/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9GvU7KufgmJGYCdQjpGLEBHbTYJNq9BLDx1T9S492q4f37Wi2179ApLfa6-jPHsADkiXhhoGBH-K7MTF-rl2lJs-KeLg&_hsmi=307106714&utm_content=307106714&utm_source=hs_email STAT’s Megan Molteni brings us this update on the new public dashboard tracking influenza A viruses in sewage from the CDC: Data from the week ending May 4 shows only one location with unseasonably high concentrations of influenza A — in Saline County, Kan. Other places have had blips, but it’s not what you’d expect to see if there was sustained person-to-person transmission going on, Jonathan Yoder, deputy director of the CDC Division of Infectious Disease Readiness and Innovation, told Megan in an interview yesterday. “Those are important initial clues,” he said. “But I don’t want to make too much of any particular data point because I think we really do need to know more.” The dashboard, unveiled yesterday, will be updated weekly with new data. And as a reminder, the testing isn’t specific to bird flu — influenza A is a larger family that includes H5N1. But other flu viruses circulate at very low levels during the summer, so high levels could be a reliable indicator that something unusual is going on in a given area. Now, before we move on, something sort of fun! You may know STAT’s Nick Florko for his unique reporting on the commercial determinants of health. In 2022, he bought 13 illegal vapes and other products essentially in the backyard of the FDA. Today, he brings us a story of what he said felt like “the world’s weirdest drug deal.” Nick bought raw milk off the black market, in an interstate sale between Maryland and D.C. It demonstrates how the FDA has allowed the dangerous product to circulate between states with little enforcement. Please read this story, you won’t regret it. Nicholas Florko Reporter, Commercial Determinants Of Health https://www.statnews.com/staff/nicholas-florko/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-83tZvQVttXNipvydB6cL5XAGaSreH02QkIUNJmc5vGmob7W63mUUt1bm41AIJqD1jxnf-_306zNat9RcmJTgWRLufYzg&_hsmi=307106714&utm_content=307106714&utm_source=hs_email CDC launching wastewater dashboard to track bird flu virus spread Megan Molteni Helen Branswell By Megan Molteni and Helen Branswell May 13, 2024 https://www.statnews.com/2024/05/13/cdc-wastewater-surveillance-dashboard-bird-flu-outbreak-monitor/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-89TsKmfHlvwO1pJ5JnLtybKRb3mJT4-RqkYi6I5kmWsqcXnMwheak6T7DfhI3X6Tnm_T7TqF2NpuCAKnW7cLDWmBBFdg&_hsmi=307106714&utm_content=307106714&utm_source=hs_email