United States: Four workers at an egg farm in Franklin County in Southeast Washington developed flu symptoms last week after handling infected birds and were declared presumptive positive for avian influenza, a state public health official said.
More about the news
The four are the first suspected human H5N1 cases in Washington. However, five other states have reported human infections with the bird flu virus during interconnected cross-state outbreaks of the virus in poultry, dairy cattle, and wild birds.
Washington’s cases occurred in a farm with an outbreak of avian influenza in the chickens it rears, the state health department said in a statement.
Expanding avian influenza outbreak
Approximately 800,000 birds were culled on October 15th after all tests came back positive for avian influenza-affected birds.
The affected persons had mild symptoms and had been prescribed antiviral drugs. They were able to send their test samples to the CDC for final processing and determination of the virus.
Additional others have yet to undergo the test, and officials have admitted that the number of those being investigated may vary.
What more are the officials stating?
According to Dr. Umair Shah, the Washington Secretary of Health, “Washington has monitored the spread of H5N1 closely since it was first detected in poultry in the state in 2022, and our state is prepared with the knowledge, relationships, and tools to minimize its impacts on our community,” oregonlive.com reported.
The officials have also stated that most of the time, humans get infected with the virus through extended close contact with infected livestock or the environment.
Essentially, the CDC downplays the threat to average citizens from this H5N1 avian influenza but highlights those in occupations or engage in activities that bring them into contact with infected fowl, cattle, or other potentially affected animals are more vulnerable to the flu.
Health officers urged people to avoid actually touching or allowing pets to come in contact with dead birds.