Cameron Mitchell, founder and CEO of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, reveals the impact of the disease on commodity prices in “Clayman's Countdown.”
Although A Avian influenza vaccine candidate It is not yet commercially available, medical experts advise that people should take it after receiving it.
Dr. Linda Yancey, an infectious disease and internal medicine specialist at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center in Houston, told FOX Business that the shot will be critical to protecting people and those around them from highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). H5N1 virus) which is also known as bird flu.
“The US government is developing vaccines against avian influenza A(H5N1) viruses as needed,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.
According to the CDC, human infection with HPAI A (H5N1) virus is rare, but unprotected exposure to any infected animal or an environment where birds or other animals are or have been infected increases the risk.
According to the CDC, avian influenza viruses in wild birds have caused outbreaks among commercial poultry and backyard flocks, and have spread to wild and domestic mammals. Since 1997, there have been sporadic human infections in 23 countries, with mortality rates exceeding 50%. But only a few human cases have been reported since 2022. Most infections occur after close contact with sick or dead infected poultry or exposure to dairy cattle during ongoing H5N1 outbreaks.
U.S. egg production declines as prices continue to rise along with cases of bird flu
People at risk of bird flu — poultry workers, dairy farmers and ranchers — are told to wear protective clothing, including N95 masks, gloves and eye protection, to reduce exposure.
Earlier this week, concerns about the virus increased One patient died in Louisiana After being hospitalized with the first human case of bird flu. Louisiana Department of Health officials confirmed that the patient contracted H5N1 after exposure to a combination of non-commercial backyard flocks and wild birds. This was the first death from bird flu.
Yancey said the virus is particularly worrisome because it has a high fatality rate and has already spread from birds to mammals.
“We know that it's only a few mutations away from person-to-person transmission, which is why we've gone ahead and started vaccine development,” Yancey said. He believes it's either going to go away because we're actively monitoring this … or it's going to mutate, and spread and affect the population.
Concerns about the virus were raised earlier this week when a patient in Louisiana died after being hospitalized with the first human case of bird flu. (Photo: Mary Kang/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
New York City emergency physician Dr. Robert Glatter told FOX Business that people should be “vigilant.”
“As bird flu circulates among birds and other mammals, including dairy cattle and pigs, the possibility of a 'reassortment event' raises the possibility of a genetic mutation, which is very problematic,” he said.
A “recombination event” occurs when two different viruses exchange genetic material, creating a new virus with a combination of characteristics from both. This often happens with viruses like the flu and can lead to new strains.
The bird flu patient had viral mutations that raised concerns about human spread
Yancey said it shouldn't take long to develop a new vaccine.
All we have to do is get this new strain, which we do literally every flu season. Each flu season, we have a new flu vaccine for that season's circulating strains. So, all we have to do is do it. New strain,” he added.
Freshly laid eggs in baskets before being washed and packed for sale at a farm in Pleasureville, Kentucky. (Photo: Luke Short/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
In July 2024, Moderna received $176 million from the US government to develop an mRNA-based vaccine that could be used to treat bird flu in humans.
Glatter said the development of an avian flu vaccine is “necessary right now given the recent deaths” and, once approved, he believes patients will be at higher risk for adverse outcomes — those with lung and heart disease, chronic kidney disease. Cancer patients and those with autoimmune conditions – should be the primary recipients. After that, he said, it should be extended to low-risk patients.
Egg prices are higher and will continue until 2025
Right now, the best way to protect yourself is to get the seasonal flu shot. Seasonal influenza vaccination “reduces the potential for a person to be infected with avian and human influenza viruses at the same time. It also reduces the likelihood of human influenza strains spreading to animals such as pigs.”
This ultimately reduces the chance of a “reclassification event”.