Scientists began to track bird flu in farm wastewater
NOh, bird flu was discoverer In animals in all fifty states, nearly 70 cases have been confirmed in people, health officials are racing to find better and more reliable ways to track the virus.
One of the promising methods is to take samples of wastewater. The technology continues to prove useful to monitor Covid-19; Since most people now, the self -test and the collection of official data may reduce, the wastewater is the most reliable way to track the height and changes in infections because it does not require people to report results.
Scientists now discover how to apply the same principle to test wastewater on farms for H5N1, bird influenza virus. On February 4, the FFAR Research Group was created by Congress in 2014 through the farm bill to use both government and private financing to support important agricultural research, and Barnwe Bio focuses on agricultural applications to test wastewater.
“The system is somewhat shocked” when it comes to understanding what makes the animals sick, “says Michael Reese, CEO of Barnwell Bio. “There is no gold standard to understand animal health of different types.”
Read more: We are not safe from bird flu in order to protect farm workers
Part of the problem is related to many types of animals that are found on farms, from pigs to chicken and cows. Not all farms have a central water system, such as cities and cities, where all waste is treated. Reese says that the development of a way to detect H5N1 in these circumstances requires specific strategies for each type.
To evaluate pathogens that affect chicken, which reduce themselves everywhere in the barn, farmers wear socks that end in animal waste. Veterinary doctors or health officials take samples of these socks, put them in the test tubes, and analyze them for H5N1.
As for cows, most dairy farms generally focus on milk -producing cows, so liquid waste samples can be taken after the hose of the Aleppo areas, because this is the place where cows urinate.
The Grant, whose total is about $ 150,000, will help the Reese team develop a test that farmers can use on the site to detect the H5N1 early. “Can we discover H5N1 early so that the barn is not spread in a large chicken farm?” Reese says. “We also look at different variables of H5N1, which can be useful in understanding where it came, whether it is a brutal bird or is an infection from animal to animal.”
The company is currently working with two poultry farms to test the feasibility of the wastewater control system.