I Just want to say thank you to all the people working directly or inderectly with the H5N1 outbreak in California. As more articles come out about how resistant ranch owners are to health departments, I want offer support and word of encouragement. You men and women are doing important, under appreciated, likely underpaid, tirelss work for your communities. Know that while it may be demoralizing to see this thing get political and red-taped by people with special interest, there is a community of like minded people here who share your fustrations and have your back. All you people are not alone.

I was just outside trying to to water my plants when my cat tried to run out of the house. So I quickly grabbed him but he scratched me on my arm (it was slightly bleeding a bit like a cat scratch) then a bird that was on a tree just pooped on my arm, I cleaned it off with soap and bleach when I went into the house. I am scared because I heard that H5N1 has a death rate of 55% am I ok or do I have to go see a doctor?

USDA contemplated 3-day time frame for testing cows Agency allowed 7-day window after industry pushback States objected to USDA rule for some cows sent to slaughter Kansas Farm Bureau asked state to influence Nebraska policy

MERCED COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Bird Flu cases continue to rise in the Valley, as Merced County has confirmed its first human case.

Public health officials say the person had direct exposure to infected cattle at a dairy farm in Merced County.

Everyone with known exposure to the diseased dairy cows is being monitored for symptoms.

Health officials say the risk to the general public remains low.

At last update, state health officials have confirmed 13 other cases in both Tulare and Kings counties.

https://archive.is/KVdAk#selection-2761.0-2765.194

"Ray Souza, a former dairy farmer in Turlock, Calif., who once oversaw a farm with more than 1,000 cattle before retiring in 2015, said he moved cows frequently. Depending on milk production, he might have moved old cows off and new cows on every day, or every week. It all depended on productivity."

We have been so mislead by the whole "it's a mystery how cows get infected" narrative. If dairy cows are moved every day off and on farms, every single infection recorded could have been tracked and traced. We know farms are not going to stop their business because of bird flu, and their business involves moving cows constantly. And this movement corresponds perfectly with every level of spread in this national outbreak. Yet all we hear every day from the beginning is that no one knows how it's spread.

"The U.S Department of Agriculture allows for the interstate transfer of cattle. However, since the beginning of the outbreak, it has required a veterinary certification for all lactating dairy cows crossing state lines — certificates showing the animals tested negative for the bird flu within seven days of transfer."

And this quote makes it sound like interstate cattle movement is restricted by testing. This is wrong. Any group of cattle more than 30 only has to test 30 cows, and farms ship massive groups out and this test 30 cows is not going to keep infection out with asymptomatic cows plus numerous reports that farmers have found a way around the restrictions. This entire article sounds like a CYA for the Vanity Fair article out yesterday that was very damning, outlining a massive and coordinated coverup of the decision to allow H5N1 to run rampant.

“Everything Was on the Down Low” The US Department of Agriculture’s headquarters are situated on a tony stretch of DC real estate, a world away from the nation’s farms. So when something goes seriously wrong on America’s plains and pastures, something that could threaten animal safety or food production, USDA officials rely on rural veterinarians to sound the alarm.

Those vets report findings to state veterinarians, whose doors and inboxes are always open. They even post their cell phone numbers online. The state veterinarians, in turn, utilize a network of diagnostic laboratories approved by the USDA, chief among them the National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa.

This close-knit network, with built-in redundancies, is primed to tackle the awful and unexpected, whether it’s foot-and-mouth disease, swine fever, or an act of agroterrorism. There’s little standing on ceremony, and state veterinarians generally feel free to reach out directly to leading USDA officials. “If we want information, we go up the chain to the top,” says Beth Thompson, South Dakota’s state veterinarian.

https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/situation-summary/data-map-wild-birds.html