Are we at the edge of another pandemic? H5N1

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State officials on Friday ordered all live bird markets on Long Island, New York City and Westchester to sell off their inventory, sanitize their premises and temporarily shut down in an effort to stop the spread of avian flu.

The unusual order follows an outbreak of bird flu at an Aquebogue duck farm in January and seven detections of the disease in markets in Queens, the Bronx and Brooklyn during "routine surveillance" since Jan. 31, according to a state notice issued Friday. The Aquebogue outbreak led to the euthanization of 99,000 ducks and the implementation of a 10-kilometer quarantine that remains in place, Newsday has reported.

Crescent Duck Farm in Aquebogue is undergoing an intense sanitization effort overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that's expected to last months as it works to revive its operations.

But in the order issued Friday, the state said "while the reported HPAI infections in humans have been mild so far, except for one fatality, there is a concern that the current HPAI virus could mix and recombine with a human flu virus and result in a more virulent virus that could be transmitted from person-to-person." It added the "best strategy for protection of animal health and public health in this state and beyond is to put an immediate stop to spread of this virus."

'Serious threat' to poultry industry
n a briefing Friday morning, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the shutdown order. At markets where bird flu has not been detected, she said no poultry could be delivered to those establishments through Feb. 14.

The markets "must sell down all inventory, undergo thorough cleaning and disinfection and then remain closed for at least five days," she said. They must then be inspected by state agricultural inspection teams before they can reopen.

In cases where infections are confirmed, all birds should be euthanized and "disposed of in a sanitary manner and the premises thoroughly cleaned and disinfected in all areas where birds have been harbored," followed by a 5-day "fallow period," according to the state.

A copy of the emergency order obtained by Newsday states there are about 80 live bird markets in the impacted area from Long Island to Westchester, "forming part of a complex system of production flocks and dealers/haulers, which are subject to extensive surveillance to detect influenza strains that are particularly dangerous to animals and humans." According to the state, there are two live poultry markets in Nassau to which the shutdown order applies and one in Suffolk.

State Agriculture and Markets investigators have received reports from distributors and live-market owners of "large die-offs" of poultry in recent weeks and called the outbreak "a serious threat to the New York State poultry industry."

The state order notes that live bird markets were targeted because they "display poultry to retail customers in close proximity with each other, and in a way that permits contact with each other and with each other's bodily fluids and secretions," increasing the risk of spread.

Further, the order noted, employees at the markets "can work in more than one market, customers may shop in multiple bird markets and distributors make deliveries to multiple markets, potentially further spreading" the virus.

Hochul stressed there is "no immediate public health threat" and called the measures "proactive."

The governor said she directed state agencies to use "all available resources to ensure we are taking every measure necessary to keep the risk to the public low. We will continue to take these measured, common sense steps that will curb the spread of bird flu and ultimately protect our communities."

'Prudent thing to do'
But Dr. Bruce Farber, an infectious disease specialist and chief of public health and epidemiology at Northwell Health, said temporarily shutting down the live markets was a "prudent thing to do."

"People who are exposed to these birds are clearly going to be at a higher risk of getting [avian] influenza," he said. "And the more influenza in the community at the same time that there's regular seasonal influenza would increase the risk of some mutation developing … that could spread from person to person."

In the wake of the announcement, animal rights group PETA called on Hochul to “permanently ban live markets in New York as a lasting precaution against disease."