Her little
name with the microphone.
I just don't want it to show up on
the shot.
Veronica thinks it's all right.
Okay. We are.
Streaming. Okay.
Stand by,
everyone.
Stand by.
In public health news is bird
flu or highly pathogenic
avian influenza.
High risk for livestock and poultry
flocks, but low risk for humans.
And could that change?
For the latest on the status of bird
flu outbreaks in Wisconsin, we turn
to Tom Howard, influenza
research scientist at the Wisconsin
Department of Health Services.
And thanks very much for being here.
Thank you, Fredricka.
I appreciate the invitation.
What is the current status of bird
flu outbreaks in Wisconsin?
Well, we've had approximately
4 or 5 commercial outbreaks
and one backyard flock.
As far as human cases, we have had
only the one human case.
That person has made a complete
recovery, thank goodness.
As far as how they're testing, we've
tested about 3 or 4 other people.
All have come back negative.
But we continue to monitor very
closely in conjunction with the
Department of Agriculture, Trade and
Consumer Protection and the DNR,
to monitor all kinds of
wildlife, any kind of
flocks. We have had no cattle dairy
farms in Wisconsin that have been
impacted so far.
We're hoping it stays that way.
Could there be more human cases
out there that people just haven't
been tested or they think they've
got a cold or, you know, what are
the concerns about that?
That definitely could be the case.
And especially now when influenza
has started to spike
the way it has been over the past
couple of weeks and we've over
double doubled our number of cases
for seasonal influenza over the
past few weeks.
So there could be some people who
probably should be tested but
are not being tested.
But we really haven't tried to be
very conservative on this and make
sure that we try to capture
everybody who may have had an
exposure, make sure that they are
tested for flu.
Speaking of flu and seasonal
influenza, I understand that the CDC
provided flu
vaccines to 12 states
that also were affected by bird
flu to prevent this kind of
co-infection of
both the human flu and
the bird flu.
That could lead to kind of
emerging variants of that that
could be more transmissible.
Why didn't Wisconsin participate
in that CDC vaccine program?
It actually was not Wisconsin's
decision. There was like six
initial states that were
categorized to get it at first.
We're hoping to be part of the
second or third round to get
this vaccine from the CDC.
But again, it was not in our hands.
How worrisome is it from
a public health standpoint
that co-infection of these two
different influenzas.
Anytime you have co-infections, it's
always a concern, whether
it's whether they be an influenza
and seasonal influenza, Covid,
RSV, whatever the case may be,
the more pathogens that actually
are infecting a person, the more
severe the outcome could be, which
could lead to hospitalization and
unfortunately, deaths.
And that's what we're trying to
prevent, making sure we're getting
people tested in a timely manner
and a proper laboratory, which
now is the Wisconsin state
laboratory of hygiene, to get that
information and to get those tests
run as quickly as possible.
But, yes, it definitely could be a
concern.
What's the best advice for people
as we head into the peak
of the seasonal flu season here
in the midst of this kind of avian
influenza outbreak?
Well, we need to control what we can
control. And that's two things.
One is to get the vaccine for
influenza.
Our numbers are a little bit low.
They're about 30.7%,
which is just a couple of percentage
points lower than what it was last
year, which is a bit
disappointing, to be honest with
you. We need to do a better job
because we are optimistic that the
vaccine is going to be effective in
preventing severe illness and in
many cases it'll be effective in
preventing illness altogether.
The other thing is to practice good
hygiene, coughing
into your sleeve, sneezing into
tissue or throwing it away right
away, washing your hands.
And above all, if people do get
sick, stay home and give yourself
the time to heal.
Too many people think it's just
allergies are, as you said, just a
minor cold.
They could be infecting someone who
could be at high risk and that
person could actually result in
becoming hospitalized and
hobbling and not been
really hopefully it's not that it
will result in any kind of
fatalities.
As for the avian
influenza, what should
people be looking for
to see whether or not that might
be what they have?
Yeah, it's very hard to say at this
point.
One thing that we do definitely look
at at the state is do you have an
exposure?
Do you have an exposure to any kind
of birds that are with a die off,
whether it be wild birds, poultry,
anything like that?
Do they work on a farm, you know, on
a dairy farm where maybe the cows
are not producing the.
Where they're supposed to be doing
are there.
The milk is very unusual.
I mean, those are the people who
come down with symptoms where we
really want them to consider
testing.
Calling the local or state health
departments, we can arrange for
testing to be done as quickly
as possible.
But the symptoms that could be very
vague.
I mean, it could be just
conjunctivitis.
It could be just an upper
respiratory, mild, upper respiratory
illness.
It's really not a precise
symptomology when you're dealing
with HPI.
I've had an influenza.
Well, I know you will be watching
this on all of our behalves.
Tom Haupt, thank you very much.
And thank you, Frederick.
I appreciate it.
Yeah.
Thank you, sir.
Have a good weekend.
Not a problem.
Nice.
It's always good to talk with you.
You too.
All right.
Thank you. Bye bye.
Now.