Doctor issues dire bird flu warning saying CDC is 'flying blind', comparing outbreak to 'early days of Covid'

A top doctor has warned the USDA and CDC are 'blind' to a potential nationwide bird flu outbreak in the United States because of a lack of testing.

Dr Rick Bright, a virologist and former director at the Department of Health and Human Services, said that the level of concern is greater than it appears on the surface, with only three Americans having tested positive for the virus.

He warned that, despite the low number of cases, it is possible the virus could be mutating, making it better able to infect humans.

In an interview with PBS, he said: 'I'm more worried right now about the information and the data that we're missing.

'We're being blindfolded in this battle right now, and I'm really concerned that the virus is winning the game and getting ahead of us.'

Scientists say the risk is high due to widespread infections in cattle, which have udders containing receptors found in both bird and human lungs. 

The CDC has only tested 45 humans for bird flu to date, which the agency says it only does when there are concerns the person could be infected.

But with so many herds infected with the virus — 102 as of yesterday — it is feared the virus may be gaining new mutations.

Dr Bright added during the interview: 'When I talk about we're not doing enough about it is, we really don't know how many humans have been infected with this virus.

'And, today, there's been very limited to almost no serology testing done among any of the cases, the close contacts on the farm or their family members.

'So, it's really hard for us to know how many people have been exposed, and if there really is any human-to-human transmission or not.'

Genetic testing carried out by the CDC has shown more than 300 mutations of the virus in cattle, including some that may make the virus more infectious.

Three Americans have tested positive for bird flu this year — including one who had respiratory symptoms and two suffering from eye infections.

Experts fear others may have been infected, but that cases were missed because patients didn't come forward.

Many farms have not co-operated with officials — reports suggest — likely because of concerns cattle will be culled or because they are using undocumented workers.

There have also been issues testing herds to establish which animals are infected.

Many infectious disease experts have raised concerns over the lack of testing, saying it has left them unsure whether cases among cattle are still rising or may now be peaking.

Dr Leonard Mermel, an infectious diseases expert at Brown University, warned in his local paper this week: 'Our federal Government does not have the authority to test for the H5N1 virus in farm animals, to require H5N1 testing of people exposed to infected cows, or to prevent [the sale of] raw, unpasteurized, milk... until infection among cows has been controlled.

'So, the H5N1 virus is in our midst, where millions of viral particles are in the udders of many cows in the US, infecting their tissues that contain human influenza receptors, easing the possibility that the virus will jump from cows to humans.' 

Yesterday a former CDC director warned that the US would at some point face another bird flu pandemic.

Dr Robert Redfield, who led the agency from 2018 to 2021, said in an interview: 'I really do think it's very likely that we will at some time it's not a question of if, it's more a question of when, we will have a bird flu pandemic.'

Previous data shows that 52 percent of people who have suffered from a bird flu infection have died from the disease.

For comparison, in the early days of Covid this figure was closer to ten percent of patients.

'Once the virus gains the ability to attach to the human receptor and then go from human-to-human, that's when you're going to have the pandemic.

'And, as I said, I think it's just a matter of time.'

The first two cases of bird flu in the US recorded this year the patients only had eye symptoms. 

But in the third case, the patient had respiratory symptoms — suggesting the virus may have infected their lungs. 

Officials reported there was no sign of onward transmission of the virus, although they have had trouble accessing households of cases.