Four people who work with birds in Colorado suffer from bird flur, as confirmed by health authorities on Sunday.
The new cases bring the total in the United States to nine since the first case of the outbreak was detected in 2022, also a poultry worker in Colorado. Eight of the nine cases were reported this year.
Their symptoms are relatively mild: red, irritated eyes and common symptoms of respiratory infections such as fever, chills, cough, sore throat and runny nose. None of the cases were hospitalized, officials said. Other cases in the United States have also been mild.
A fifth person with symptoms was awaiting testing, but the results were not yet known. The workers euthanized birds at a farm in northeastern Colorado, according to state officials. All had direct contact with infected birds.
A avian influenza virus has been spreading since 2020 among mammals such as dogs, cats, skunks, bears and even seals and porpoises in dozens of countries. The virus, known as H5N1, was detected this year in cattle in the United States and is now circulating among cattle in several states.
Health officials continue to classify the threat to the general population as low and the virus has not spread from person to person. But officials are maintaining vigilance because previous versions of the same virus have been fatal for some people.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has sent a nine-person team to Colorado to assist with the investigation at the state’s request, CDC officials said.
Other cases this year have been reported among dairy farm workers in Michigan, Texas and Colorado.
The virus detected in the latest four cases was at least partially identical to the type found in previous cases in the United States, but genetic testing is being done to confirm it is exactly the same, officials said.
By Friday it had been confirmed presence of the H5N1 virus in 12 states, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Hundreds of commercial poultry flocks have been reported with H5N1 or other forms of bird flu.
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