The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has confirmed 25 more H5N1 avian flu outbreaks in dairy cattle, all from California. The developments lift California's total to 461 infected herds and the national total in dairy herds to 675 across 15 states since the outbreaks began in March.

The outbreaks in California’s hard-hit Central Valley began toward the end of August, and the virus has affected more than one-third of commercial dairy farms in the state, which is the nation’s largest dairy producer. California is also grappling with several recent outbreaks at large poultry farms, including layer facilities.

Also today, APHIS confirmed two more outbreaks in poultry, which include a backyard flock in Alaska’s Matanuska Susitna County that has 70 birds and a commercial turkey farm in Minnesota’s Meeker County that has 29,900 birds.

Raw milk from H5N1 recall was sold in LA County

In other developments, following the recent detection of H5N1 a raw milk sample by the public health lab in California’s Santa Clara County, Los Angeles County yesterday warned the public about risks from consuming the recalled milk from Raw Farm.

The company, based in Fresno, voluntarily recalled the milk following the H5N1 detection in the retail sample. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health listed 10 retailers that sold the product and said more may be confirmed as the investigation continues.

No related illnesses have been reported. “Health inspectors in LA County will be visiting retail establishments where this product was sold to ensure that it is no longer available for purchase,” the group said.

Today JAMA published a research letter spotlighting the steep decline in cervical cancer deaths in women younger than 25 in recent decades, a finding that highlights the importance of promoting human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination.

Vaccination against HPV has been recommended in the United States since 2006. The authors of the research letter looked at cervical cancer mortality data for women aged younger than 25 years from 1992 to 2021 from the National Center for Health Statistics.  

Mortality rates were calculated as deaths per 100,000 persons.

The authors found that, from 1992-1994 to 2013-2015, there was an initial gradual decline of 3.7% per year in cervical cancer mortality. But from 2013-2015 to 2019-2021, mortality decreased 15.2% per year.

Steep decline in first cohort of women vaccinated

"This study found a steep decline in cervical cancer mortality among US women younger than 25 years between 2016 and 2021," the authors wrote. "This cohort of women is the first to be widely protected against cervical cancer by HPV vaccines."

We observed a substantial reduction in mortality—a 62% drop in cervical cancer deaths over the last decade, likely due to HPV vaccination.

"We observed a substantial reduction in mortality—a 62% drop in cervical cancer deaths over the last decade, likely due to HPV vaccination," said senior author Ashish Deshmukh, PhD, MPH, with the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Hollings Cancer Center, in an MUSC news release. "We cannot think of any other reason that would have contributed to such a marked decline."

As of 2021, HPV vaccination coverage reached 78.5%. But the COVID-19 pandemic slowed vaccine uptake from 79.3% in 2022 to 75.9% in 2023.

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) today announced nearly $27 million to support the rapid development and scaled-up manufacturing capacity for diagnostic tests to address future biologic threats. The funding is coming from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) consortium.

Dawn O'Connell, JD, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at HHS, said in a statement that the COVID pandemic revealed a gap in the country's ability to quickly develop, validate, and produce diagnostic tests. "We expect the progress made with today's funding will begin to close that gap. These diagnostics use platforms that allow for rapid development and can be ready for production at any time."

Diagnostics advancements could pivot to other emerging threats

The new projects represent the first diagnostics of their kind and include about $16 million for InBios International, based in Seattle, to develop a point-of-care lateral flow test to detect Burkholderia pseudomallei, the bacterium that cause melioidosis.  The second project provides up to $11 million to OraSure Technology, based in Pennsylvania, to develop a rapid antigen test for Marburg virus.

The funding covers development steps through regulatory approval, and ASPR said the new capability can be repurposed to develop and produce tests for other biological threats when needed.

We are establishing long-term partnerships to develop diagnostic tests rapidly.

BARDA Director Gary Dishbrow, PhD, said, "Through these awards, we are establishing long-term partnerships to develop diagnostic tests rapidly, using existing domestic manufacturing facilities, to create a more sustainable response to future health security threats."