#avian-influenza

#avian-influenza

"Due to the increased risk of avian influenza to our poultry, I am taking action to reduce the threat to our industry and to our poultry farmers' livelihoods,"

But the virus is continuing to evolve and spill over to other species, fueling fears of human-to-human transmissions and a possible pandemic.

Welcome to Deep Dish, a weekly roundup of food and entertainment news. Last week we discussed how there might be lead in your protein powder. Grocery behemoth Trader Joe's and jam giant Smucker are beefing right now. The subject of their tiff? PB&Js. More specifically, Smucker is suing Trader Joe's for allegedly copying their trademarked Uncrustables by launching their own Crustless Peanut Butter and Strawberry Jam Sandwiches.

Bird flu is back. After a quiet summer, the virus has hit dozens of poultry flocks, resulting in the deaths of nearly 7 million farmed birds in the United States since the beginning of September. Among them: about 1.3 million turkeys, putting pressure on the nation's turkey supply in the run-up to Thanksgiving. Reports of infected wild birds have also surged this fall, and three states - Idaho, Nebraska and Texas - have identified outbreaks in dairy cows.

Influenza A viruses are enzootic in wild migratory birds of aquatic habitats around the world7. In wild waterfowl, 17 subtypes of HA (H1-H16, H19) and 9 of neuraminidase (NA, N1-N9), surface glycoproteins of influenza A viruses, have been identified8,9. HA is the receptor-binding and fusion protein of influenza A viruses, and its head domain contains dominant epitopes targeted by antibodies.

San Francisco public health officials said it was first notified of the bird flu in the cat on July 17, after it showed "respiratory and neurologic symptoms." A local vet tested the cat for influenza A, which came back positive. The California Department of Public Health confirmed the infection on July 31. SFDPH said there are no additional suspected or confirmed cases in San Francisco, no evidence of person-to-person transmission and the health risk to the general public remains low.

The Alameda Police Department say they shut down an illegal gambling den being operated inside a home on Tuesday, where they found slot machines, table games like roulette, and drugs. [KTVU] A resident of the tiny town of Chinese Camp, Layne Smith, whose family has lived there for four generations, describes how he saved his home from the wildfire that came through Tuesday night. [KTVU]