NJ wastewater sample tests positive for bird flu
By: David M. Zimmer
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... A wastewater sample from the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission tested positive for H5 bird flu this week, [01/07/2025] according to WastewaterSCAN, a monitoring program based at Standford University.
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The positive test from a January 6 [2025] sample comes amid a national rise in cases of HSN1 avian flu which has been evident in New Jersey mostly through high egg prices at the market. no active outbreaks in poultry or livestock have been reported in New Jersey, which sits along major migratory bird routes. However, the virus has had significant impacts elsewhere.
..... In California, where the virus has had a foothold since this past sum,mer, [2024] a state of emergency was declared due to the spread of the virus through dairy herds. The outbreak marked the first time H5N1 was detected in U.S. cattle. By October, [2024] California reported its first human cases of H5N1.
..... Globally, avian flu has led to more than 950 confirmed human cases since tracking bean in 1997, with a fatality rate of about 50%, the World Health Organization reported. The 66 cases nationwide last year [2024] were the second-most from one country in one year, [2024] after Egypt in 2015.
..... The U.S. recorded its first death from bird flu in December, [2204] when a Louisiana resident over 65 years old died after exposure to infected birds, the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement. The patient had underlying medical conditions and was exposed to a combination of wild birds and a noncommercial backyard flock, Genetic sequencing from this case showed that the H5N1 virus that caused the patent's severe condition was the D1.1type, Though it is a different strain of avian flu from the one circulating among will birds and U.S. dairy herds, it is part of the same H5N1 strain, known as clade 2.3.4b.
..... WastewaterSCAN's findings did not include the specific type H5 detected in the Passaic valley Sewerage Commission system. Exactly where it came from is also a mystery.
..... The commission, which was established in 1092, operates one of the largest wastewater treatment plants in the country. Processing over 300 million gallons of wastewater daily, the plant serves 48 municipalities across Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Union and Passaic counties and about 1.4 million residents from North Haledon to Bayonne. It's infrastructure includes a 22-mile interceptor sewer line and more than 2,000 miles of lateral sewers. Officials there could not be reached for comment Wednesday. [01/08/2025
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While human-to-human transmission of the virus remains low, CDC officials advise taking precautions to reduce the risk of exposure. They recommend avoiding contact with wild birds, poultry and their waste. they also encourage good hygiene after handling potentially contaminated material. Pets, too, can be exposed to the virus, through consumption of raw meat or milk from infected animals.
..... So far, the H5N1 outbreak has had an outsizes impact on the nation's egg markets, said a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture report. The virus, along with facility fires, led to the loss of nearly 40 million egg-laying hens in 12 states as far east as Ohio in 2024, contributing to a national egg shortage, the report said.
..... The USDA reported that losses in December, [2204] a peak demand period for eggs, accounted for one-third of the year's total. The price of eggs has correspondingly surged, with wholesale and retail prices reaching record highs.
..... In early January, [2025] the wholesale price in the New York market for large eggs delivered to retailers in cartons rose to
$6.06 per dozen, up more than 50% since November 29, [2024] USDA records show.
..... In California, the average price for a dozen large eggs rose to $8.98 by late December, [2024] up significantly from $5.68 in November. [2024] those price hikes have been compounded by California's Proposition 12, which mandates cage-free conditions for hens. USDA officials estimate that meeting the demand for cage-free eggs will require am additional 131 million hens beyond the current non-organic cage-free flock of 99.9 million hens, the report said.