Aug 5, 2024 - Health

Cuyahoga County Fair vet is monitoring bird flu situation

Illustration of cows connected by a web of lines. — Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios

The quintessential summer pastime of going to the county fair could carry some risk this year with the threat of bird flu hanging over livestock exhibits and throngs of visitors, experts say.

Why it matters: The mingling of animals, people and equipment at 4-H competitions, along with milking demonstrations and petting farms, creates the conditions for potential transmission to humans.

What they're saying: "What we do at fairs kind of violates every tenet of biosecurity that we preach, and we do it on public display, and we charge the public," Andrew Bowman, a veterinarian from Ohio State University, told CIDRAP News.

"As great as fairs are for agricultural education, they create situations with multiple species from different farms housed in one spot," he said.

Driving the news: During a call with reporters last week, federal officials reiterated that the risk from the virus, which has spread across livestock herds in more than a dozen states, remains "low" for humans.

However, they also said they are "concerned" about potential for spread and noted many state and county fairs were taking steps to mitigate the risk.

Zoom in: This year's Cuyahoga County Fair is Aug. 6-11. The fair's official veterinarian is "monitoring the situation," fair board president Carl Cooley tells Axios.

But there are no current reported cases in Ohio and no out-of-state livestock will appear at the fair, he says.

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Cuyahoga County Fair vet is monitoring bird flu situation

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