Four poultry workers in Colorado have tested positive for bird flu, according to health officials who confirmed the cases on Sunday.
This brings the total number of cases in the U.S. to nine since the first human case of the current outbreak was identified in 2022, also in a Colorado poultry worker. Eight out of the nine cases were reported this year.
The symptoms experienced by the affected individuals were relatively mild, including reddened and irritated eyes, as well as common respiratory infection symptoms such as fever, chills, coughing, sore throat, and a runny nose. None of the individuals required hospitalization, officials stated. The other cases in the U.S. have also been mild.
A fifth person displaying symptoms is currently undergoing testing, but results are pending, officials mentioned. The workers were involved in culling poultry at a farm in northeast Colorado, as reported by state health officials. All of them had direct contact with infected birds.
Since 2020, a bird flu virus has been spreading among various mammals in numerous countries, including dogs, cats, skunks, bears, seals, and porpoises. Earlier this year, the H5N1 virus was detected in U.S. livestock and is now circulating in cattle in several states.
Health officials continue to assess the risk to the general public as low, emphasizing that the virus has not been transmitted between people. However, officials are closely monitoring the situation due to the potentially deadly nature of earlier versions of the same virus.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has dispatched a team of nine individuals to Colorado to assist in the investigation at the state’s request, as per CDC officials.
Earlier cases this year involved dairy farm workers in Michigan, Texas, and Colorado.
The virus identified in the four most recent cases is at least partially similar to the strain found in the earlier U.S. cases, but further genetic analysis is being conducted to confirm its exact match, officials confirmed.
As of Friday, the H5N1 virus has been detected in 152 dairy herds across 12 states, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Hundreds of commercial poultry flocks in over 30 states have reported cases of H5N1 or other forms of bird flu.
