Health
In a potential outbreak, is bird flu testing available for humans? What to know
Several people have tested positive for bird flu in the U.S., raising questions about the availability of tests in the event of a potential outbreak.
As of July 11, the H5N1 virus has affected more than 99 million poultry (in all 50 states), more than 9,500 wild birds (in 48 states) and more than 145 dairy herds (in 12 states), according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Five human cases have been reported since 2022, including a farm worker infected in Colorado and dairy workers ill in Texas and Michigan.
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As of June 28, only 53 people have been tested for the virus associated with the dairy cow outbreak, according to the CDC.
Here is more information.
Several humans have tested positive for bird flu in the U.S., raising questions about the availability of tests in the event of a potential outbreak. (REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo)
How do people get tested for bird flu?
At this point, only governmental health departments are providing H5N1 avian influenza testing, according to Edward Liu, M.D., chief of infectious diseases at Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center.
“However, the CDC is taking steps to ramp up the nation’s capacity to test for the flu virus, asking private companies to develop and increase the number and types of tests that can effectively detect H5N1 infections in people,” Liu told Fox News Digital via email.
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“A recent announcement from the CDC seemed to indicate that multiple private organizations are working on developing tests.”
Private companies, however, will likely not ramp up production unless there is a clear demand for avian flu tests due to increasing numbers, Liu added.
As of July 11, the H5N1 virus has affected more than 99 million poultry, more than 9,500 wild birds and more than 145 dairy herds, according to the CDC. (iStock)
Neal Barnard, M.D., an adjunct professor of medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C., and president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, confirmed there are currently no consumer-level tests for bird flu.
“The home tests for flu (which can be bought on Amazon, for example) are not sensitive to bird flu,” he told Fox News Digital in an email.
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“If a person has symptoms and an exposure history suggestive of bird flu, a doctor can send a swab sample to the state health department, which can arrange appropriate testing, but this is rarely done.”
CDC’s warning of limited availability of testing
In a June 10 memo, the CDC issued a public statement warning of a lack of testing availability.
“The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified this virus as a major public health concern, as it has the potential to cause a global pandemic,” the statement read.
“The home tests for flu are not sensitive to bird flu.”
“The current testing capabilities for influenza A(H5) are limited, which could hinder efforts to contain and control the virus in the event of an outbreak.”
Currently, only the CDC and certain jurisdictional public health laboratories are equipped to test for and diagnose bird flu, according to the agency.
In a June 10 memo, the CDC issued a public statement warning of lack of testing availability for the H5N1 virus. (Getty Images)
“This poses a significant problem, as these laboratories may not have the capacity to handle a large number of cases in the event of an H5 epidemic or pandemic,” the statement said.
“This could result in delays in diagnosing and treating individuals, leading to the further spread of the virus.”
It also noted, “The amount of testing required in the event of an emergency may quickly exceed the capacity to test at public health laboratories, both domestically and internationally.”
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To address the situation, the CDC called for private companies to design a lab developed test (LDT) to gain regulatory approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The different types of flu tests
The tests currently available to individuals will alert that a person has the flu — but may not be able to determine if it is avian flu (which is a flu A variant) versus other circulating strains of flu, the expert said.
“However, at the least, that broad detection will give enough information for a clinician to start the patient on antiviral medication, like Tamiflu, which currently will treat avian flu,” Liu noted.
A number of tests are available to detect flu viruses, the doctor said.
The most common are rapid influenza diagnostic tests (RIDTs), which detect parts of the virus that stimulate an immune response.
Advanced tests — reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), viral culture and immunofluorescence assays — will be able to differentiate avian flu from other strains of flu, a doctor said. (REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo)
“These tests can provide results within approximately 10 to 15 minutes, but may not be as accurate as other flu tests,” Liu said.
Other flu tests, called rapid molecular assays, detect the genetic material of the flu virus.
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“Rapid molecular assays produce results in 15 to 20 minutes and are more accurate than RIDTs,” Liu said.
The CDC has recommended molecular tests due to their greater sensitivity.
There have been a total of five human cases reported since 2022, including the case of a farm worker in Colorado and that of dairy workers in Texas and Michigan. (iStock)
“There are several other, more accurate flu tests available that must be performed in specialized laboratories, such as hospitals and public health laboratories,” Liu said.
These advanced tests — reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), viral culture and immunofluorescence assays — will be able to differentiate avian flu from other strains of flu, the doctor said.
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“These tests require a health care provider to swipe the inside of the nose or the back of the throat with a swab and then send it for testing,” he said. “Results may take one to several hours.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the CDC requesting comment.
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Nearsightedness (myopia) is skyrocketing globally, with nearly half of the world’s population expected to be myopic by 2050, according to the World Health Organization.
Heavy use of smartphones and other devices is associated with an 80% higher risk of myopia when combined with excessive computer use, but a new study suggests that dim indoor lighting could also be a factor.
For years, scientists have been puzzled by the different ways myopia is triggered. In lab settings, it can be induced by blurring vision or using different lenses. Conversely, it can be slowed by something as simple as spending time outdoors, research suggests.
Nearsightedness occurs when the eyeball grows too long from front to back, according to the American Optometric Association (AOA). This physical elongation causes light to focus in front of the retina rather than directly on it, making distant objects appear blurry.
The study suggests that myopia isn’t caused by the digital devices themselves, but by the low-light environments where they are typically used. (iStock)
Researchers at the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Optometry identified a potential specific trigger for this growth. When someone looks at a phone or a book up close, the pupil naturally constricts.
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“In bright outdoor light, the pupil constricts to protect the eye while still allowing ample light to reach the retina,” Urusha Maharjan, a SUNY Optometry doctoral student who conducted the study, said in a press release.
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“When people focus on close objects indoors, such as phones, tablets or books, the pupil can also constrict — not because of brightness, but to sharpen the image,” she went on. “In dim lighting, this combination may significantly reduce retinal illumination.”
High-intensity natural light prevents myopia because it provides enough retinal stimulation to override the “stop growing” signal, even when pupils are constricted. (iStock)
The hypothesis suggests that when the retina is deprived of light during extended close-up work, it sends a signal for the eye to grow.
In a dim environment, the narrowed pupil allows so little light through that the retinal activity isn’t strong enough to signal the eye to stop growing, the researchers found.
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In contrast, being outdoors provides light levels much brighter than indoors. This ensures that even when the pupil narrows to focus on a nearby object, the retina still receives a strong signal, maintaining healthy eye development.
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The team noted some limitations of the study, including the small subject group and the inability to directly measure internal lens changes, as the bright backgrounds used to mimic the outdoors made pupils too small for standard equipment.
Researchers believe that increasing indoor brightness during close-up work could be a simple, testable way to slow the global nearsightedness epidemic. (iStock)
“This is not a final answer,” Jose-Manuel Alonso, MD, PhD, SUNY distinguished professor and senior author of the study, said in the release.
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“But the study offers a testable hypothesis that reframes how visual habits, lighting and eye focusing interact.”
The study was published in the journal Cell Reports.
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Older adults classified as “SuperAgers” generate at least twice as many neurons in the hippocampus than their typical aging peers, a new study has revealed.
These findings, released on Wednesday by the University of Illinois Chicago and Northwestern University, could help explain why SuperAgers have exceptional memory and cognitive resilience even well past 80 years old.
Northwestern has been studying SuperAgers for decades, defining them as “extraordinary individuals aged 80 and above whose memory performance rivals that of people three decades younger.” The researchers use special memory recall tests to make this determination.
In this study, they analyzed post-mortem brain tissue — nearly 356,000 individual cell nuclei — with a focus on the hippocampus, which is essential for forming new memories and supporting learning and spatial navigation.
They compared tissue from SuperAgers, typical older adults, older adults with early dementia/Alzheimer’s and younger healthy adults.
SuperAger Ralph Rehbock sits with his wife in his home. New findings from the University of Illinois Chicago and Northwestern University could help explain why SuperAgers have exceptional memory and cognitive resilience well past 80 years old. (Shane Collins, Northwestern University)
The researchers found that SuperAgers produced at least twice as many new neurons compared to “cognitively normal” older adults and those with Alzheimer’s pathology.
They also found that changes in certain brain support cells (astrocytes) and key memory cells (CA1 neurons) are linked to preserved cognitive ability, helping to keep the brain sharp with age.
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The SuperAgers also had different genetic activity patterns in their brains compared to those in Alzheimer’s disease.
“SuperAgers have more immature neurons and neuroblasts in the hippocampus, which is an indication of stronger neurogenesis when compared with other groups,” study co-author Changiz Geula, research professor of cell and developmental biology and neuroscience at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, told Fox News Digital.
Northwestern University study co-author Ivan Ayala examines a SuperAger brain sample on a slide. (Shane Collins, Northwestern University)
“The study also showed that specific cells in the hippocampus show unique gene expression profiles that relate to neuronal function and transmission and are associated with superior cognitive function.”
The findings were published in the journal Nature.
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“We’ve always said that SuperAgers show that the aging brain can be biologically active, adaptable and flexible, but we didn’t know why,” said co-author Tamar Gefen, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a neuropsychologist at Northwestern’s Mesulam Institute for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease, in the release.
“This is biological proof that their brains are more plastic, and a real discovery that shows that neurogenesis of young neurons in the hippocampus may be a contributing factor.”
Dr. Tamar Gefen examines a slide of a SuperAger brain. (Shane Collins, Northwestern University)
Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News senior medical analyst, commented that the study discovered signs of plasticity and regeneration in SuperAgers.
“It confirmed not only preservation of brain tissue in the hippocampus, which is crucial for memory and cognition, but also regeneration and increased development of brain cells in that area,” Siegel, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital.
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“This is an important study because it may lead to certain cell gene treatments that could lead to more SuperAgers,” the doctor said. “It may also lead to more advanced testing to determine who will be a SuperAger and guide clinical treatment and management.”
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The study did have some limitations, primarily that the research relied on tissue samples taken at one specific point, instead of tracking changes over time.
Brain samples are fixed in blocks of wax so they can be stored and examined. (Shane Collins, Northwestern University)
Geula noted that studies using human brain tissue typically involve fewer cases than animal research, which can be a limitation. However, he emphasized that each case in this study was analyzed thoroughly.
“While these findings are not directly translatable to changes in everyday life and activities, they suggest that cognitive resilience is associated with greater integrity of many brain systems,” he told Fox News Digital. “This implies that attending to brain health is crucial for maintaining cognitive function in old age.”
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“Thus, maintaining good overall health by keeping systemic diseases in check, maintaining a healthy diet and exercise, and ensuring the elderly remain mentally active assume more importance.”
The study was funded by the National Institute on Aging, which is part of the National Institutes of Health.
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