This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Tina Sawyer: Since late 2021, Michigan has seen an ongoing outbreak of what is commonly known as bird flu, or avian influenza. Forms of the virus are common in wild birds, but do not always cause serious illness. But this current outbreak is different, as WCMU David Nicholas learned from talking with Dr. Kimberly Dodd, Dean of Michigan State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine.
Kimberly Dodd: In this particular outbreak, we have seen significant disease in wild birds. We've also seen disease in young mammals, specifically carnivores who may be feeding on dead wild birds. Of course, we’ve seen significant disease in domestic poultry as well - when those birds are exposed to wild birds. We’ve also seen cases in domestic and wild cats and in humans. Perhaps the most interesting or unexpected finding was the development of disease in dairy cattle earlier in 2024 and first detected in Michigan in March of 2024.
David Nicholas: First and foremost, as people listen to this, they always ask about the risk to human health and though we've seen a couple of those cases, what right now is considered that level of risk in people here in the state of Michigan?
KD: Now Centers for Disease Control and prevention still consider the general public to be low risk. Individuals who may have higher risk are those higher risk of exposure, so individuals working on dairy farms or working with poultry or wild birds that may be infected. This outbreak has been ongoing now for almost a little over three years. And during that time, we have seen the virus spread between different animal species and of course, different bird species as well. And the concern is that the longer the virus continues to circulate in these animals, the more opportunity there is for new mutations to develop and therefore, to change the behavior of the virus. Now work is being done by state and federal agencies and collaboration with academic institutions -- like MSU -- to very closely scrutinize the circulating viruses to ensure we do not see signs of an increased likelihood for spread to people. But that level of vigilance is really important to ensure that we are prepared as this outbreak continues.
DN: Is there anything right now that can be done, or that the state is actively trying to do to slow the spread? It sounds as if we are kind of at its mercy right now and trying to figure out the way to best get a handle on this to keep it as contained as possible.
KD: So within the College of Veterinary Medicine, we have the veterinary diagnostic laboratory --- or the VDL – which serves as the first line of defense in the case of a widespread or high consequence animal disease in Michigan. We’re the official animal disease testing lab for Michigan. That laboratory is working closely with state and federal officials to rapidly identify potentially infected flocks that are herds. We have folks working nights and weekends, including over the holidays, to turn around those results as quickly as possible, in addition to providing critical information to our colleagues in state and federal agencies.
KD: This information also allows the state to look into additional surveillance in the area surrounding that infected block or herd, allowing us to get a better understanding of other potential farms that may be impacted in the immediate area. So we can really get a jump on that before it has a chance to take hold at that farm. In addition, Michigan is the first of six states to participate in a nationwide effort to test bulk tank milk as a mandatory testing requirement. And the idea there is to give us a snapshot in time in the terms of the breadth and how far spread it is in our dairy populations. And so all of this information, coupled with work being performed by researchers across the country, to better understand the mechanism of transmission are all feeding into our efforts to limit spread.
DN: As the work continues, we certainly appreciate your efforts at the forefront of this, you and your colleagues there at the College of Veterinary Medicine at MSU. Dr. Kimberly Dodd, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us and best of luck as those efforts continue.
KD: Thank you.
TS: Dr. Kimberly Dodd is the Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Michigan State University. She spoke with WCMU’s David Nicholas.
