Five Cases of Bird Flu Reported in Colorado Poultry Workers

July 15, 2024
Robin Foster HealthDay Reporter

Five poultry workers in Colorado have been diagnosed with bird flu, state health officials reported Sunday.

"In coordination with the Colorado Department of Agriculture, the State Emergency Operations Center and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment [CDPHE] is now reporting a total of five human cases of avian influenza in workers responding to the avian flu outbreak at a commercial egg layer operation," the CDPHE said in a news release announcing the cases.

"CDC has confirmed four of the cases, and one additional case is presumptive positive and pending confirmation at CDC," the CDPHE added.

Initially, three cases were confirmed by the CDC on Friday, and then a fourth case was confirmed late Friday evening. A fifth worker tested presumptive positive on Saturday and that sample has been sent to the CDC for confirmatory testing, Colorado officials said. No additional test results are pending.

All of the illnesses were relatively mild -- red, irritated eyes, fever, chills, coughing, sore throat and runny nose. None of the patients have been hospitalized, Colorado officials said. The other U.S. cases of bird flu, reported in workers exposed to dairy cows, have also been mild.

The Colorado workers were exposed while culling poultry at a farm in the northeast part of the state, and all had direct contact with infected birds, officials said.

The CDC has sent a nine-person team to Colorado to help in the investigation, at the state's request, agency officials said in a news release issued Friday.

While the risk to the public remains low, "as we learn more, we will continue to assess the situation and provide updates," the CDC added. "These preliminary results again underscore the risk of exposure to infected animals. There are no signs of unexpected increases in flu activity otherwise in Colorado, or in other states affected by H5[N1] bird flu outbreaks in cows and poultry."

Since 2020, a bird flu virus has been spreading among mammals -- including even alpacas. Earlier this year the virus, known as H5N1, was detected in U.S. dairy cows, and it is now circulating in livestock in multiple states.

The cases reported earlier this year were among dairy farm workers in Michigan, Texas and Colorado.

As of Friday, the H5N1 virus has been confirmed in 152 dairy herds in 12 states.

More information

The CDC has more on the bird flu outbreak.

SOURCES: Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment, news release, July 14, 2024; U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, news release, July 12, 2024

Bird Flu