US poultry workers test positive for avian flu
The CDC has said that it believes the risk to the public ramains low.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed the first human cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in poultry workers since 2022.
Four cases have been confirmed, and a fifth case is awaiting confirmation. All of the cases involve farm workers who were taking part in a cull of poultry at a facility in north east Colorado that was experiencing an outbreak of HPAI H5N1.
The workers who have tested positive all reported mild illness, including conjunctivitis and eye tearing, as well as fever, chills, coughing and sore throat/runny nose. None of them needed to be hospitalised.
State epidemiologists are investigating with support from CDC. It is suspected the cases were caused by working directly with poultry carrying the virus.
Although the cases are the first in American poultry workers since 2022, there have been cases this year in dairy workers linked to the ongoing outbreak of the virus in cattle, including one in Colorado.
Colorado is one of the states most affected by the HPAI outbreak in cattle, with more than 40 herds testing positive for the virus.
In a statement confirming the human cases, CDC said that genetic sequencing of the virus in the clinical specimens is underway, and that it believes ‘the risk to the public from this outbreak remains low.’
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