How worrying is bird flu's jump to dairy cows? Here's what experts say

“I don’t think anyone really saw this coming, but there’s one thing that needs to be clear: As far as susceptibility goes, you can probably infect anything on the planet with flu, if you give it the right dose and the right virus,” Skallnecht said.

The concern now, Lakdawala said, is whether the virus, as it circulates among cattle, could change in ways that make it more transmissible to humans, or from person to person.

“It’s not known how the virus will evolve in cattle and whether it will gain some of the mutations that we think of in terms of sensitivity to influenza in humans,” Lakdawala said.

What’s being done to stop the spread?

Georgia is not one of the country’s top-10 milk-producing states, but with an estimated 92,000 dairy cattle, it is still home to a robust milk industry.

Georgia’s response to the cases in dairy cows is being led by the Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) and its Commissioner, Tyler Harper. In a statement, Harper said his “team is in constant communication with our federal partners as well as dairy producers, veterinarians, and public health officials ... ”

So far, the GDA is hewing closely to the USDA’s latest guidance issued April 12.

The USDA has urged dairy producers to monitor animals for signs of illness, to minimize the movement of cattle and to conduct testing of animals before they are transported, along with a host of other recommendations.

But while some states have restricted the import of cattle from regions with cases of the virus, Georgia has not. In a statement, GDA spokesman Matthew Agvent said Georgia has imported cattle from states with positive cases, but no cows from affected herds have been brought to Georgia.

If a cow in Georgia does test positive, Agvent said movement of that herd “would be restricted and it would be monitored until clinical signs are resolved.” Agvent added that GDA is working closely with the Georgia Department of Public Health to develop an operational plan in the event that a human case does occur.

To prevent human cases, Agvent said the agency recommends dairy workers follow CDC guidance and wear personal protective equipment around cattle, and avoid contact with their eyes, nose, and mouth, among other measures.

What else?

In the CDC’s most recent update published Friday, the agency said it is possible there could be more human infections. But absent genetic changes that would make the virus more transmissible to people or evidence of sustained person-to-person spread, the agency reiterated its view that the virus poses a low risk to the general public

As of last week, the USDA said that it had not found any evidence the virus has mutated in ways that would allow it to spread more easily to and among people.

In the meantime, the CDC has begun testing FDA-approved antiviral drugs used against seasonal flu on the strain of virus that infected a worker in Texas. The agency said it found the virus was “susceptible” to all of those commercially-available drugs.

The CDC is also exploring whether existing candidate vaccine viruses could protect against this strain of bird flu, in case the mass production of vaccines is needed. The agency’s early analysis suggests two of those candidates would likely offer protection.

Amid the worry about the cow cases, other experts, like UGA’s Skallnecht, say we cannot lose sight of the toll the virus has taken on wild animals. The disease has ravaged populations around the world, including in species that had bounced back after decades-long conservation efforts, like the bald eagle and the California condor.

Though recent developments are concerning, Skallnecht said there are early signs that immunity is developing in certain bird species. If true, that could help pump the brakes on the virus’ unfettered spread in the wild.

“It’s probably not going to go away, but it may be less of a problem,” Skallnecht said. “That’s what we’re hoping for.”