Axios The quintessential summer pastime of going to the county fair could carry some risk this year with the threat of bird flu hanging over livestock exhibits and throngs of visitors, experts say.
Why it matters: The mingling of animals, people and equipment at 4-H competitions, milking demonstrations and petting farms creates the conditions for potential transmission to humans.
“What we do at fairs kind of violates every tenet of biosecurity that we preach, and we do it on public display, and we charge the public,” Andrew Bowman, a veterinarian from Ohio State University, told CIDRAP News.
- “As great as fairs are for agricultural education, they create situations with multiple species from different farms housed in one spot,” he said.
Driving the news: During a call with reporters on Tuesday, federal officials reiterated that the risk from the virus, which has spread across livestock herds in more than a dozen states, remains “low” for humans.
- However, they also said they are “concerned” about potential for spread and noted many state and county fairs were taking steps to mitigate the risk.
- “It’s a consideration, particularly for parents whose kids may have pre-existing health conditions or something of that sort,” Nirav Shah, principal deputy director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters on Tuesday.
- The CDC late last month released guidance for fair exhibitors to reduce risk of transmission among animals. Recommendations included shortening the amount of time livestock are at the fair, regular handwashing and avoiding eating, drinking or touching the mouth while in animal areas.
State of play: In Michigan, the state blocked live poultry from being exhibited until 30 days after the last reported case of avian flu. Lactating cows within the last two months of their pregnancy are similarly banned from events for 60 days, WCMU reported.
Additionally, the Minnesota State Fair announced last week it will eliminate cows from its annual “Miracle of Birth Center” and will also eliminate lactating cows from its exhibit of mother-calf pairs to prevent the spread of the virus, CBS News reported.
In Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota, lactating dairy cows are still allowed at fairs, but only if they have a proof of negative flu tests in the week before they arrive, Stat reported.
“It’s not something that’s considered an imminent risk, but we also, as an agency, want to be prepared for any possibility and do what we can to prevent those kind of events,” Katie Cornille, senior veterinarian for the Minnesota Board of Animal Health, told Axios.