The Indiana State Honest is exhibiting prize dairy cows, amid the specter of hen flu that has been detected in cattle from 13 states.
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
We’re smack-dab in the course of state truthful season, and this 12 months, well being consultants are frightened that hen flu might unfold. From the Indiana State Honest, here is Facet Results Public Media’s Ben Thorp.
BEN THORP, BYLINE: State festivals are recognized for issues like Ferris wheels, corn canine, sculptures made completely from butter and the largest pig within the state.
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THORP: State festivals additionally carry people and animals from farms throughout the state into shut contact, the place it is simpler to unfold illness. That is a specific concern this 12 months. Fowl flu infections have been confirmed in dairy cows in 13 states. The virus has even given some dairy employees gentle 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 Honest in Indianapolis. He says hen flu is not even on his radar.
MEL VENTIMIGLIA: I have not heard it – anyone point out it aside from you.
THORP: Yeah.
VENTIMIGLIA: And hopefully I will overlook it fairly rapidly.
THORP: (Laughter).
Cattle farmer Randy Mason says he follows fundamental precautions to maintain his cattle from getting sick whereas on the truthful, however he is not significantly frightened.
RANDY MASON: Numerous that, I – for my part, will get overblown to some extent. They get one or two circumstances, after which it turns into – like all the pieces 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 festivals, officers have enacted stricter guidelines this 12 months to maintain the virus from spreading. In Minnesota, which has detected circumstances of hen flu inside its dairy cattle, the state requires all cows to have a unfavorable hen flu take a look at earlier than they arrive to the state truthful. 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 extensively agree there may be not sufficient testing happening to completely perceive which states have cows contaminated with hen 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 on the lookout for them.
ADALJA: That is what they need to be messaging – not our cows are free. That is silly to consider.
THORP: Regardless of these considerations, some consultants say that is not a purpose to overlook out on the state truthful. Here is Andrew Bowman.
ANDREW BOWMAN: I am nonetheless going to the truthful. Household’s nonetheless going to the truthful. Shoot, I had a milkshake once I was there.
THORP: Bowman is a professor of veterinary preventative drugs at The Ohio State College. He says at-risk populations, such because the immunocompromised, ought to contemplate 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 may I benefit from the animal displays possibly from slightly additional distance and never get proper in the course of it?
THORP: The Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention have issued recommendation for state festivals to reduce the dangers of hen flu spreading. For example, farmers should not dump uncooked milk on the bottom, and cows from completely different herds ought to be stored aside. However, they are saying, the chance to people from the hen 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 for those who’re into that. For NPR Information, I am Ben Thorp in Indianapolis.
SUMMERS: That story is from NPR’s reporting partnership with Facet Results Public Media and KFF Well being Information.
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