CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WDBJ) – Public health officials encourage anyone who works with cattle or birds to take precautions against avian influenza, but for most of us, an expert at the University of Virginia says the risk remains low.
Dr. Patrick Jackson is an expert on infectious diseases at UVA Health.
In an online briefing Friday morning, he told reporters that so far we have not seen sustained human-to-human transmission.
And that, he said, would be “the bright red flag” that would make him concerned about the beginning of a pandemic.
“If you don’t specifically come into contact with cattle or birds, then I don’t think there are any particular recommendations,” Jackson said during the briefing. “If you’re an office worker, or a plumber, an electrician, and you know birds are not part of your everyday life, except for occasionally having a chicken sandwich here and there, I don’t think that there’s anything you need to change about your life in order to protect yourself from bird flu right now.”
Jackson said the nation’s food supply remains safe, but the production and distribution of eggs could continue to be a challenge, as more commercial poultry flocks are culled to prevent the spread of the avian flu.
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