The Indiana State Honest is exhibiting prize dairy cows, amid the specter of fowl flu that has been detected in cattle from 13 states.
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
We’re smack-dab in the midst of state honest season, and this yr, well being consultants are nervous that fowl flu might unfold. From the Indiana State Honest, here is Facet Results Public Media’s Ben Thorp.
BEN THORP, BYLINE: State gala’s are identified for issues like Ferris wheels, corn canines, sculptures made fully from butter and the most important pig within the state.
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THORP: State gala’s additionally convey people and animals from farms throughout the state into shut contact, the place it is simpler to unfold illness. That is a selected concern this yr. Chook flu infections have been confirmed in dairy cows in 13 states. The virus has even given some dairy employees delicate infections.
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THORP: However not everybody appears to find out 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 fowl flu is not even on his radar.
MEL VENTIMIGLIA: I have never heard it – anyone point out it aside from you.
THORP: Yeah.
VENTIMIGLIA: And hopefully I am going to neglect it fairly rapidly.
THORP: (Laughter).
Cattle farmer Randy Mason says he follows fundamental precautions to maintain his cattle from getting sick whereas on the honest, however he isn’t significantly nervous.
RANDY MASON: Loads of that, I – for my part, will get overblown to some extent. They get one or two circumstances, after which it turns into – like every little thing 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 gala’s, officers have enacted stricter guidelines this yr to maintain the virus from spreading. In Minnesota, which has detected circumstances of fowl flu inside its dairy cattle, the state requires all cows to have a destructive fowl flu check earlier than they arrive to the state honest. 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 extra measures in. States like Minnesota have had the prognosis in dairy herds of their state, so that they’ve taken extra measures.
THORP: The issue is, although, scientists extensively agree there may be not sufficient testing occurring to totally perceive which states have cows contaminated with fowl flu.
AMESH ADALJA: The idea 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 Heart for Well being Safety. He says states like Indiana have no constructive circumstances as a result of they are not 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 issues, some consultants say that is not a cause to overlook out on the state honest. Here is Andrew Bowman.
ANDREW BOWMAN: I am nonetheless going to the honest. Household’s nonetheless going to the honest. 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 yr.
BOWMAN: , train warning and actually form of take into consideration which contacts they should have. And may I benefit from the animal reveals possibly from just a little additional distance and never get proper in the midst of it?
THORP: The Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention have issued recommendation for state gala’s to reduce the dangers of fowl flu spreading. As an example, farmers should not dump uncooked milk on the bottom, and cows from totally different herds ought to be stored aside. However, they are saying, the danger to people from the fowl flu virus stays low.
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THORP: So wash your arms 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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