State seeks to protect dairies, prevent bird flu’s spread

Connecticut officials say they will be much more prepared than they were for COVID-19 if a deadly flu virus now affecting dairy cows and other animals makes the jump to humans.

But questions remain about what the state is doing to protect its milk supply, keep farm workers safe and prepare for the possibility of another human pandemic.

“We’ve been planning for avian flu for decades,” Dr. Manisha Juthani, commissioner of the state Department of Public

Health, said in an interview Thursday. “We’re very, very alert and aware, because this is one of those threats that we’ve been waiting for.”

Experts agree the country is on much better footing when it comes to pandemic preparedness than it was in early 2020, when COVID exposed problems with the nation’s public health infrastructure. But they say gaps still remain.

Meanwhile, state officials have not shared details about some of their own preparedness steps.

“Connecticut, I think we’re doing as well as any state,” said Dr. Dr. Megan Ranney, an emergency room physician and the dean of the Yale School of Public Health.

“But I do worry about that federal backup,” Ranney added.

A flu that started in birds circles the globe and jumps to mammals – even sporadically to humans.

Influenza more commonly called “bird flu,” “avian flu” or “avian influenza” — began to spread in poultry in China around 1997 after it was first discovered in wild birds, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Bird flu continued to