The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday urged labs nationwide to determine within 24 hours of admission whether people hospitalized with the flu have seasonal influenza or are infected with the bird flu that's behind an escalating outbreak in dairy cows and poultry.
The guidance for labs to do this type of testing has been in place since last fall, but the process has been slow, with many hospitals sending flu samples out for testing in bulk every few days.
...Health experts around the world have for months been urging US authorities to increase surveillance and share more information about its bird flu outbreak after the virus started spreading among dairy cows for the first time. ...
Tom Peacock, a virologist at the Imperial College London, said he thought "the biggest error the US has made is its slow and weak response to the cattle outbreak"
...public health experts say they are worried the virus could mutate and become more transmissible, amplifying the need to ramp up testing and to stockpile vaccines.
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