Trips to the county fair might look a little different this year — all because of avian influenza, more commonly known as “bird flu.”
Organizers across the U.S. are working to ensure their events do not lead to the spread of the virus.
Children under five, people over 65 years old, pregnant individuals, people with certain chronic medical conditions and more are at a higher risk of developing serious flu complications and should limit contact with animals that could carry influenza viruses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC also has recommendations for fair exhibitors, including limiting the time pigs, poultry and cattle are on display to 72 hours or less.
The Allegan County Fair in Michigan, if there is an outbreak, has said they will have a virtual cattle show.
“If they’re here, everything is over and we’re doing great, and if they’re not here, then they’re safe either way. Nothing to worry about,” explained Saree Miller, the executive director of the fair.
Some fairs have banned milk cows altogether to prevent the spread.
In Michigan, lactating cows are not allowed at fairs until 60 days have passed since a reported positive case.
In Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota, lactating dairy cows are only allowed at fairs if they have proof of a negative flu test the week before, according to STAT.
“Use sanitizer. Don’t touch your eyes. Don’t touch your mouth. Just be smart,” explained Brian C. Castrucci, president and CEO of the de Beaumont Foundation. “Right when you go to the fair exhibit, make sure that you’re not bringing in any toys for kids or drinking glasses or anything that could carry infection, and if you do touch an animal, make sure that you are washing your hands and try to keep that to a very minimal kind of interaction with the animals.”
Castrucci, an award-winning epidemiologist with years of experience working in state and local health departments, says fairgoers do not need to be alarmed, just cautious.
“Remember, you can only have infection in the presence of disease. So if there is no disease, there can be no infection. So the real point here is to make sure that if an animal comes in that has bird flu or a variant of that, that we are making sure that we’re going to be really cautious, get that animal out of the exhibit, and for us, if we don’t know an animal is infected, we’re going to try to be as safe as we can.”
Last month, the U.S. government gave Moderna $176 million to develop their bird flu vaccine.The CDC maintains the threat to the general public is still low, but leaders want to be ready if it becomes a pandemic.
Since March, 13 reported human cases of bird flu have been documented in the U.S.
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