Avian influenza continues to cause fear in the USA, which after the jump in species is now endemic among dairy cattle. Controls and monitoring of the H5N1 avian influenza virus continue. The virus was detected in the wastewater of nine cities in Texas (USA) between March 4th and March 25th. […]
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Avian influenza continues to cause fear in the USA, which after the jump in species is now endemic among dairy cattle. Controls and monitoring of the H5N1 avian influenza virus continue. The virus has been detected in wastewater from nine Texas cities (USA) in the period between March 4 and April 25, when H5N1 outbreaks in cattle herds and one human case were recorded.
Genome analysis – The population affected is millions of inhabitants. The discovery was made by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine (Houston), in a pre-publication work on MedRxiv. According to scientists, “genome analysis of sequences found in wastewater suggests avian or bovine origin of H5N1 but it was not possible to exclude other potential sources, in particular humans.” “The increasing presence of the H5N1 virus in pets raises significant concerns that viral adaptation to immunologically fragile humans could cause the next influenza pandemic. – recalls the study – Wastewater-based epidemiology (Wbe) is used to track viruses and has in the past been used for polio and was recently implemented for monitoring Sars-CoV2 during the pandemic Covid“.
CDC controls – To monitor the virus and to primarily address the risks related to possible spread between humans, the agency CDC (US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) is collecting data from wastewater and has also announced that it will launch a dashboard online for presenting data to the public.
At the moment, cases of H5N1 avian flu have been confirmed in dozens of cattle farms and around 300 people have been subjected to tests or monitoring of symptoms after the verification of the – so far only according to official data – case in a human being. The CDC collects data from more than 600 sites in the US that provide information to the agency about the presence of influenza A – of which H5N1 is a subtype – in wastewater.
The new parameters – In some cases, peaks of influenza A have already been identified in the waters according to Amy Kirbyhead of the CDC wastewater team, heard from Reuters who added that they are trying to trace the sources of this presence. And it is precisely the source of the viral presence in water that is one of the major problems for analysis: generally, samples of water containing a large quantity and a broad spectrum of raw sewage are analyzed. Starting from their analysis, the scholars are not able to understand whether the viral presence detected comes from a bathroom in a house or from a farm, nor whether it originated from an animal or man. What they can do is monitor viral presence levels and report if these levels are above normal.
The new metrics developed by the CDC will mean that current influenza A levels for specific sewer systems will be compared to levels detected during last year’s flu season. Any unusual activity in the data would be easy to spot even more so considering that North America’s regular flu season has weakened. Increased levels will trigger CDC investigations to understand the exact source of the viral presence.
Gianmarco Pondrano Altavilla
