United States: The health officials of the United States have been testing around 70 poultry workers for H5N1 bird flu at a chicken farm in Colorado. The testing has been conducting at the farm after multiple cases linked to the disease were detected.
The announcement was made by the state health authority on Tuesday, July 16.
The authorities have reported approximately four (4) confirmed cases and one suspected case of highly pathogenic bird flu. It is expected that the cases have been reported during the time when workers culled and disposed of the infected chickens.
As per the reports shared, the remaining workers – who might had a direct contact with sick birds – are being tested, after they reported to have mild symptoms. The health authorities have asked the infected people to stay isolated until the test reports are released.
What Investigators Have To Comment?
The principal investigator of the CDC – Nirav Shah explained that soaring temperature could be a reason behind this spread as during the culling operation, there was extreme heat, and workers find it difficult to wear their personal protective equipment.
He further mentioned that none of the person – who tested positive – has been admitted in the hospital and all of them have been witnessing mild symptoms, such as conjunctivitis, fever, chills and coughing.
Fear of the Public Remains Low!
According to the experts as of now, the risk to the public is low as there is no evidence that the virus has mutated to spread among the humans.
H5N1, first identified in 1997, has spread to millions of animals worldwide since 2020. Since then, hundreds of commercial poultry flocks in over 30 states have reported cases of H5N1 or other types of bird flu. However, only one poultry worker had tested positive for the virus prior to this year.
The country is also experiencing an outbreak among dairy cattle, affecting at least 152 herds across 13 states. This year, four dairy workers in Michigan, Texas, and Colorado have contracted H5N1.
Experts speculate that these outbreaks might be connected, potentially through the virus jumping from cattle back to birds. Colorado is one of the states most severely impacted by the H5N1 outbreak in cattle, with at least 40 infected herds.
Initial analysis of the virus’s DNA uploaded to the GISAID database suggests that infections at the chicken farm are similar to those found in some dairy herds.
While addressing the same, the spokesperson for the Infectious Disease Society of America and WHO medical officer – Dr Krutika Kuppalli, mentioned, “The human sequence released on GISAID shows the person was infected with virus containing clear marker for the virus from dairy cows,” according to reports by the Telegraph.
Along with this, a spokesperson for the Infectious Disease Society of America and former WHO medical officer said, “The human sequence released on GISAID shows the person was infected with virus containing clear marker for the virus from dairy cows.”
Furthermore, the issue was also addressed by an immunologist and influenza expert – Dr. Rick Bright, who stated, “Either these workers also worked on dairy farms and got infected there, or this massive poultry outbreak is likely caused by the virus from dairy cows and then jumped to humans.”
The expert shared the statement on social media. The post further read, “More sequence data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) could help find the missing links.”
In addition to this, the experts have anticipated that avian influenza is a top pandemic threat and have asked the authorities to prepare a pandemic plan to reduce the spread among humans as the World Health Organisation has considered it as an “enormous concern.”