At least 4 more farm workers have bird flu

At least four poultry workers in Colorado have contracted bird flu and are experiencing mild symptoms, the state’s health department said Sunday.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed four cases and a fifth worker is presumed to be positive for the flu.

“The workers were culling poultry at a farm in northeast Colorado and exhibited mild symptoms, including conjunctivitis (pink eye) and common respiratory infection symptoms,” state health officials said. “State epidemiologists suspect the poultry workers’ cases are a result of working directly with infected poultry.

None of the five workers with bird flu were hospitalized and their cases are currently being investigated by the CDC.

Despite outbreaks, Colorado health officials said it is safe to eat poultry that is cooked properly, health officials said. “The proper handling and cooking of poultry, meat, and eggs kills bacteria and viruses, including avian flu viruses.”

The news Sunday brings the total amount of people in the US infected with bird flu since 2022 to nine. Of those nine infections, eight occurred this year.

The virus, which has been infecting mammals and birds since 2020, has been spreading across the US this year and has hit both poultry and cattle farms.

The CDC said Friday that its “current risk assessment for the general public remains low.”

“There are no signs of unexpected increases in flu activity otherwise in Colorado, or in other states affected by H5 bird flu outbreaks in cows and poultry,” it said. Still, it called the human cases “concerning” because of their “pandemic potential.”

“If these viruses were to change to spread easily from person-to-person, it could trigger a pandemic, though, to date, we have not seen genetic changes in the virus that would make it more likely to transmit between humans,” it said.

Moderna announced earlier this month it received $176 million from the U.S. government to begin trials for a mRNA H5N1 bird flu vaccine.